Taking the Steps Towards Greatness
by Madrigal-in-training
Summary: Dimension travelling can lead to many surprises. Surprises like Naruto receiving a family. With the renewal of the Uzumaki Clan and all that had formerly made them so feared, and the growth of a young jinchuuriki's power, the Elemental nations better get ready for Change. Politics. Mokuton. Clan-oriented loyalty and normal growth. Kurotsuchi/Naruto/femHaku
1. Chapter 1

The Chuunin guards Izumo and Kotetsu didn't receive many interesting guests during their posts. They had just been recently promoted to Chuunin, and therefore, were the bottom rung of the guard chain as far as the other shinobi were concerned. So it was fair to say that they took note of the beautiful kunoichi walking up to the gate.

"Hello," the girl said, smiling, as she reached their post. She was definitely a ninja, with her short fishnet tank top, white and blue sleeveless mini coat, and blue skirt. A shiny Konoha forehead protector encircled her throat.

"H-hey," Izumo chuckled, his eyes quickly flitting across the blond bombshell, "I don't think I've ever seen you before. What's your name?"

"Naomi," the girl grinned, tucking one long strand of blonde hair behind her ear, "I just got back from a longterm border mission. May I pass through?"

"Um, yeah, sure," Kotetsu replied, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly, "Do you need any help getting anywhere?"

"I think I'll manage," Naomi said lightly, passing through the gate, and walking into the village. The kunoichi appeared to be rather cheerful, returning any of the smiles offered to her by the villagers, as she confidently made her way to the Hokage Tower. Instead of passing through the secretary, Naomi jumped onto the roof of a nearby building and then made her way to the Hokage's window.

"Hello jiji," Naomi said, perched on the window, with one leg swinging over the edge.

"Excuse-me?" the Hokage said coldly, as he looked upon the girl. A small gesture of his gnarled hand led to several white masked ninja appearing before Naomi.

The blond girl merely cocked her head to one side and smiled, "The leaves unfurl even in winter because of the will of fire." The Hokage stilled at this innocuous phrase; a message within a thousand messages to be passed between high ranked shinobi who held deadly information in a time of peace.

"Then those leaves shall receive an audience before an elder flame," the Hokage replied, another gesture allowing the ANBU to be recalled back to their hidden alcoves. He pressed his hand against an old seal brushed into his desk and activated a silencing barrier.

With those actions, the girl jumped into the room, and made herself comfortable in a nearby seat. Now that Sarutobi could relax, if only marginally, for the reassuring phrase she had offered him, he could judge her physical traits. The girl smiling cheekily at him now had long, spiky blond hair, darkened by exposure to the sun, and intense sea green eyes that were traditional for the Clan of the Whirlpool. Her skin was a flawless pale marble, unmarred by the scars of a typical shinobi, though her strides were graceful and efficient.

She would make an excellent assassin, his mind supplied slyly.

The girl did not move in the slightest while he made his mental assessment, and only spoke when he dipped his head towards her.

"My name is Naomi Uzumaki," she said wryly, "The daughter of the Yondaime and Kushina Uzumaki, and the former Host of the Kyuubi no Yoko." His face showed no outward sign of emotion, even as his internal feelings broiled.

"I have no doubt that your universe contains my counterpart," she continued on, a flash of mischief alighting in those coldly intelligent eyes, "I am a Seal Master, and travelled to this dimension by way of a Biju powered space-time accord. In my dimension, I was a jounin level ninja of Konohagakure under the rule of the Godaime Tsunade Senju."

"Why did you arrive here?" he asked. A dimension traveller… well, she would not be the first, but only the Shodaime dealt with Leaf's previous arrival. A foreign jinchuuriki with jounin level skill bode no level of comfort despite the Konoha hitai-ate tied securely around her neck.

For his question, he received merely a fox-like grin, "I was curious."

"You were curious?" Sarutobi repeated, allowing a shred of his disbelief to color his tone, "Is that your sole motivation?" Sarutobi had been trained to spot liars. He was one of the best, yet not a single tell showed through. He allowed his chakra to reach out and envelop the young woman. It was a risky move that left both parties vulnerable; a level of intimacy that made many ninja uncomfortable and was only shared between close family or friends.

Sarutobi relied on her former acknowledgement of him as a grandfather figure, and his faith was rewarded as the shockingly comforting warmth of Uzumaki chakra encircled him. She was not lying.

"I wanted to test my skills," Naomi elaborated, placing a slim hand on her stomach. An uninformed observer may have thought it to be the proud caress of an expecting mother, but Sarutobi was not uninformed, and despite the fond nature of the gesture, he could determine the location of the Shiki Fuujin.

At that, a sudden realization struck him, and Sarutobi allowed himself a moment of deep sympathy. The poor girl was skirting the edges of madness.

"Who did you lose?" he asked quietly. Her face darkened.

"My partner," Naomi replied, her gaze sharp-eyed and challenging. She was daring him to call her out on that.

In a child that was perhaps in another universe, and perhaps in this one as well, a granddaughter to him, Sarutobi was ashamed to say that he was too cowardly to do so.

"Recount your history," the Sandaime Hokage said instead, and received a nod both bitter and thankful. She was born to two of Konoha's greatest heroes, their only child, and became an orphan on the day of her birth. The Kyuubi was sealed within her, but that knowledge was kept between the Hokage, Jiraiya, Danzo, and the Elders. She grew up as a typical orphan, though her unusually large chakra reserves did garner her some attention. A loner graduating two years early at the top of her class landed her as Kakashi's personal apprentice. She refused Chuunin promotions twice, and formed Team 7 with Sakura Haruno and Sasuke Uchiha two years later.

Naomi refused to reveal much information about her teammates barring that Haruno died within a year of her genin career and Sasuke Uchiha betrayed Konoha and had to be killed by Naomi when she was fifteen to prevent Orochimaru from receiving a receptacle with the Sharingan. Speaking of his former student, apparently the Snake Sannin had stolen away to the Land of Rice to found his own Hidden Village of Sound, which (according to Naomi) consisted of halfwits, rejects, morons, and an irritating third cousin. He mounted and failed an invasion of Konoha, despite having the help of the Hidden Village of Sand and their own jinchuuriki, Gaara, whom Naomi personally defeated and referred to as otouto.

Despite having survived Orochimaru's murder attempt, Sarutobi had decided once and for all that he was not going to continue as Konoha's Hokage, and sent her on a mission with her new sensei- the rather aptly named Ero Sennin- to persuade Tsunade to return. One failed bet and gifting of a legendary necklace later, Naomi had secured Konoha a Godaime Hokage, and came face to face with the infamous Itachi Uchiha. Finding the enigmatic assassin to be rather contradictory in words and actions, Naomi had done a little digging, discerned the true reason for the Uchiha Massacre, and refused to speak to Danzo, with whom she had a surprisingly good relationship, for a month.

Naomi paused here to send him a fairly dirty look as well before continuing her monologue.

Itachi, under the orders of Konoha, had infiltrated Akatsuki, a group of deadly S-ranked ninja who wanted to capture all nine of the Bijuu to form the Jubi and cast a genjutsu on the moon. Naomi had paused again, and sheepishly admitted, that between fighting a genjutsu master in Itachi and seeing the implications of the Akatsuki's plan, her rather low opinion of genjutsu had risen from a second-rate girly alternative to a serious skill. Anyway, Akatsuki was not- as previously assumed- controlled by her cousin, Nagato Uzumaki, ('He's the anal retentive emo with the god-complex and multitude of piercings,' she described) but by Uchiha Madara.

Another ten minutes covered the Kage meetings, the Allied Shinobi Forces, the not quite dead Obito Uchiha, and her massacre of zombie plant men named Zetsu. The entire story ended with copious use of the Nidaime's Impure World Reincarnation, a tearful father-daughter reunion that commenced only after Naomi had beaten the Yondaime to a near second death, the loss of all of the Bijuu, and the death of Madara. Naomi went on to live another five years in relative peace under Tsunade's reign, becoming a successful jounin and skilled Seal Master.

Sarutobi sighed, having already reached for his comforting nicotine halfway into the story, before he asked what was arguably the least important of his questions, "If you are twenty-one years old, than why do you only look fifteen?"

Naomi blinked, noticeably drawn back before she gave him a charming smile, "Uzumaki age at a slower rate."

"I see," Sarutobi said, recalling the famous Uzumaki longevity, "Now, what is your skill set?"

"Full mastery of my elements Suiton and Futon," she said without hesitation, "Rasengan, fuuinjutsu, a handful of jutsu from the other elements, chakra chains, Iiijustu, Tsunade's taijutsu style, accelerated healing, and genjutsu dispelling. I have a small measure of Bijuu chakra integrated into my chakra coils, and the Toad and Slug contracts, although I'm not sure if they'll pass through to this dimension. My signature jutsu is Kage Bunshin."

"The Hiraishin?" he asked hopefully.

She grimaced, "I can do it, but I like relying on my own skill set, rather than just copying my Dad's."

"You seem to borrow rather heavily from Tsunade and Jiraiya's styles though," he pointed out, "And Kushina's chains."

She shrugged, "Eh, so maybe I'm still just a tiny bit pissed at him for locking Kyuubi into my stomach."

Sarutobi hummed. An S-rank ninja with her skill set would be a great boon, although he would have to take the time to reabsorb the plethora of information she had given him. Perhaps Danzo should be called up later?

"Would you like to be instated as a jounin for Konoha?" the Sandaime asked.

Naomi blinked, clearly surprised, "Um… is that it? Aren't you going to have a Yamanaka read me first?"

"Your chakra doesn't lie," he explained matter-of-factly, before smiling, "Regardless, had you chosen to infiltrate my village, you would not have chosen such a detailed and farfetched backstory."

"Yes, but aren't you worried about the fact that I'm a dimension traveller?" she demanded.

The Sandaime shrugged, "You're actually the second dimension traveller Konoha has had, although the last was a confused civilian who had stumbled into the Shodaime's time."

"Well, if the Hashirama of this universe is anything like the Hashirama of my universe, than he would have loved the chance to interrogate a dimension traveller," Naomi said fondly, "More of a child than a man sometimes, honestly."

"When you had mentioned meeting the reincarnated forms of the previous Kages, I didn't know that you had the chance to get to know them personally," Sarutobi said, wistfully, "How long did their forms last?"

"For a few years," Naomi answered, "I did get to know them personally. Well-"

A dark blush suffused her cheeks, "Ah, Tobirama and I-"

"Tobirama and you-" Sarutobi echoed, an odd idea popping into his head.

Her embarrassed smile and the pale hand returning to her stomach confirmed his suspicion. The younger part of him, who looked upon Tobirama-sensei as a second father, blanched.

"I see," he cleared his throat, "Why, or- that is- how did...?"

"He was very composed and pragmatic," Naomi's lips quirked up briefly in remembrance, "I wanted to- for lack of better phrasing- get rid of the stick lodged up his ass. Somehow that resulted in man with such a completely different personality- taciturn where I was verbose, practical where I was idealistic- charming me into a relationship. I think it was his deep commitment to the village that finally drew me in. We didn't love each other, but Tobirama was certainly thoughtful and treated me with great kindness."

Sarutobi still had difficulty wrapping his mind around it all, "Did the fact that he was technically dead not bother you?"

Naomi shrugged, "He was still excellent in bed if that's what you were wondering about."

Sarutobi nearly choked on his pipe, "That was not what I was wondering about, thank you." The part of him that was still a part of Tobirama's genin team shuddered.

Naomi looked unperturbed, "I see. Anyway, what can you tell me about my counterpart."

"Naruto Uzumaki is a boy," Sarutobi informed her, relishing her own moment of shock. His face settled into the sense of regret he often felt when thinking about his young pseudo-grandson, "The villagers were told about his burden-"

"What?!" Naomi interjected fiercely, glaring at him, "Who the hell let that happen?!" The ANBU stepped forward at her clear, if soundless, movements of outrage, though the Sandaime's discrete gesture soon returned them to their spots. A detached part of his mind wondered what his bodyguards thought of seeing their Kage spend over two hours of his time discussing village secrets with a slim blonde girl.

"I did," he bowed his head shamefully, as she made a wordless snarl of fury, "I believed that the villagers could overlook their hatred and accept your father's final request. I was wrong."

"Of that I have no doubt," she said bitterly, and Sarutobi secretly wondered if she too had previous experience with being ostracized. She could not have kept her jinchuuriki status secret during the war after all.

"How old is he?" Naomi asked, momentarily marveling over the oddness of her counterpart being a male.

"Nine years old," was the offered truce, "He is one month into his final year at the Academy. He doesn't know."

Naomi's anger drained out of her, and she sat down. Kami, a child. A jinchuuriki child who had no idea of his position, who grew up in a village that undoubtedly emotionally ostracized him. Had he grown up into another Gaara?

"Is he…?" Naomi faltered at what she was going to ask. Is he what? Innocent? Sane?

"Naruto is a very cheerful and kind boy who loves to play pranks," Sarutobi answered proudly, addressing her silent fears without giving her the humiliation of acknowledging those concerns, "He loves to play pranks and eat ramen."

Naomi gave a small, sad smile, "I want to adopt him."

The Hokage made no indication of his own feelings in regards to this declaration, "Are you sure?"

"The only thing I had ever really wanted was a family," Naomi replied, "I know that I'm a little… broken, but I would offer him that. I can raise him to be a good man."

"Better a good man than a great shinobi," Sarutobi agreed, tipping his head towards her, "Very well."

Naomi smiled, the first truly happy smile Sarutobi had seen from her today, and relaxed, "What will my background be?"

"An Uzumaki cousin from a long term S-rank mission," Sarutobi responded, rifling through his drawer and removing several objects. The first was a Konoha flak jacket that Naomi received with pride, and the second was a bank draft.

"The standard pay for two S-rank missions," Sarutobi said, upon receiving her confused look, "A beginning sum of money to be offered per dimension traveller. One is for you, and the other should cover your unborn child. It should also cover the price of a medium sized home."

"Thank you," Naomi whisper, closing her eyes and letting a smile spread across her face, "May I go find him?"

Sarutobi nodded, "I expect to see you here early tomorrow to discuss your placement in this village in greater detail." He watched the slim kunoichi suddenly jump up and- with a cheeky two finger salute- Shunshin out of his room. Hiruzen leaned against his chair, absent mindedly deactivating the silencing seal, as he looked at the picture of Minato Namikaze that still hung on his wall.

Your children may look like you, Minato, Hiruzen thought with fond exasperation, but they create even more trouble than Kushina did.


	2. Chapter 2

It was actually rather easy for Naomi to find her younger counterpart. The reason for that, of course, seemed to involve the large group of elite shinobi chasing a small nine year old boy clothed in a bright kill-me orange jumpsuit. Biting back a small grin, the blonde kunoichi slipped into the crowd of angry ninja, and followed Naruto's path.

When the group slowly began to branch off as they lost the orange wearing Academy student, Naomi jumped into the crevice between two large and garishly painted buildings and encircled her arms around the small boy.

"Hey!" Naruto shouted, struggling against the slender arms wrapped around him. "Let me go!" He didn't notice that they were a lot slimmer and gentler than the arms usually grabbing him, as he wiggled his way out of her grasp and turned around to face her. The whisker-marked boy paused at the kind smile on Naomi's face.

"Hello Naruto," the young woman said, sketching a brief bow to the stunned male, "My name's Naomi Uzumaki."

"What?!" he shouted in outrage, pointing at her, "Why are you stealing my name?" Behind the display of fury shown towards her, Naomi looked for and found the small glimmer of desperate hope in his vibrant blue eyes.

"I'm your cousin," she said, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly, "I just got back from an S-ranked mission and learned about you for the first time. I was hoping that we could get to know each other?"

The boy gaped at her, shock, betrayal, and hope predominantly flitting across his features, before his expression shutdown. "Don't lie to me," Naruto said coldly.

Naomi bent down on one knee, and looked at him without flinching, "I'm not lying. This truly is the first time I had ever heard of you, and I was hoping you would allow me to get to know you a little more."

Naruto looked into her sea green eyes, warm and intense and more than a little sad, and felt his rigid body relax a little.

"Why?" he asked, still the small boy without anyone to call his own, alone, isolated, and insecure. He didn't have any family, except maybe for this beautiful girl in front of him. Why would she want the village pariah though?

"I'm an orphan too Naruto," Naomi answered quietly, hesitantly reaching out a hand and laying it on his arm. The rest of his questions were apparent in his eyes, "I never heard about you before because I was in a long-term S-rank mission. I wasn't able to contact Konoha at all, so I never got to learn about you. I promise though that I'm here now."

At her last sentence, the boy broke, and Naomi suddenly had a small, quietly sobbing boy clutched within her arms. She sank down fully onto her knees, mindless of the dirtiness of the ground, as she drew him closer to her. He wasn't a neat crier- snot and tears smeared her clothing- but she ignored it, as she let him pour out his emotions.

It could have been a minute or an hour by the time Naruto was done. His choked sobs slowly slid off to drenched tears and finally to muffled whimpers. Finally, he drew back with an embarrassed shifting of eyes, afraid that he had managed to drive off his only living relative with this stupid display of tears.

Naruto bit his lip in panic as he thought that she might not want him anymore because he was useless and weak and stupid, and he didn't want that to happen because he wanted someone to be his, really, truly his, like the family members that the other students in the class had, and maybe if he was cooler or stronger like Sasuke-teme, then-

"Naruto, it's okay," and the boy looked up to eyes that were warm and kind and understanding, and felt his throat close as he knew, perhaps for the first time in his life, that everything was okay.

The older girl felt her chest constrict at the quiet desperation of an unloved child, and the part of her that was still a child, that still cared before Kura- he died, jumped in excitement at finally having a family. It was her practical side though, the side carefully encouraged by Tobirama, the side that acted logically even in emotional upheaval, that raised a hand to wipe away his tears. This simple action, overlooked and unremarkable by any sort of standard, almost brought Naruto to tears again, because such gentleness was reserved only for family, and he had someone do it for him.

"Perhaps we can find a better place to continue this discussion," Naomi smiled, standing up.

Naruto returned her gesture with his own shaky smile, "My apartment is pretty close if you want-"

"That will be fine," Naomi answered cheerfully, and then, before Naruto had a chance to protest, easily scooped the boy up into her arms. "Point me," she said cheekily, before jumping onto the roof.

Naruto fell back bonelessly into her strong arms as he marvelled at having a ninja relative. He knew that she was a kunoichi by her hitai-ate and by the fact that she had returned from a mission, but that point didn't really hammer home until he was being carried from several dozen feet in the air with the wind rushing by.

A small smile-a true smile, a slow, gentle upturn of the lips- appeared on his face as he looked up at the beautiful young woman jumping into his apartment. Naomi, he tasted the name against his mouth. A simple name, direct, sweet, and with only a small edge of sharpness at the end. Looking at her closely, his mind feverishly pointed out facets of her appearance that matched his own. The same shape of the eyes. The same delicate nose.

The same spiky hair. Each realization brought a fissure of warmth up Naruto back. Family.

"So is this your apartment," Naomi asked, as they appeared in a cluttered living room. She placed him back on the floor, and though he missed the warmth being close of Naomi provided, Naruto didn't raise a protest.

"Yeah," he said shyly, feeling embarrassed in his messy home. It had never bothered him before, but then again, Naruto had never had anyone to bring home before either, and he didn't want his only family to think he was a slob.

"Great," Naomi said, sitting down in a nearby seat, and patting the place next to her, which Naruto eagerly took. He leaned against her body again, when she wrapped her arm around him, feeling contented by the closeness.

"Why don't we get to know each other by taking turns asking questions," Naomi suggested, "You can go first."

Naruto nodded seriously, and thought a little, "Do you know who my parents are?"

Naomi nodded hesitantly, "I do, but I'll need to wrangle the old man's permission first before I can tell you. I'm going to be meeting with him tomorrow to discuss my future placement, so I'm pretty sure I can get permission to tell you about at least one of your parents."

Naruto nodded, excited by the possibility of getting to know information about his parents, although he was a little mad at the old man for keeping such information from him.

"My turn. So Saru-jiji told me that you just started your last year at the Academy," Naomi prodded, "Do you like it?"

Naruto nodded enthusiastically, "Yeah! Iruka-sensei is a pretty cool teacher, though he can sometimes be really boring and he yells at me a lot if he sees me playing a prank or skipping school."

"I can see why," Naomi said dryly, "How are you going to be a good ninja if you keep skipping class?"

Naruto pouted, though he couldn't help feeling a little happiness about having a relative who cared about his education, "I know, but the stuff they teach us is so boring! They don't teach us any badass jutsu at all!"

Naomi chuckled, "There's a lot more to being a ninja than 'badass jutsu' Naruto… although, I might be a little hypocritical since I know a lot of ninjutsu."

"Really? That's so cool!" Naruto said, excitedly, "Are you really strong? Will you teach me?"

"I'm a jounin, Naruto, and I'll be happy to teach you," Naomi said, pleased, "Now, how well do you do in class?"

At this, Naruto's face fell, "Um… I'm actually not very good. I'm at the bottom of my class, and I failed the graduation test twice. I can't even perform a stupid Bunshin."

He expected to be reprimanded for his failure, but was surprised- and pleased- to have Naomi's fingers playfully card through his hair. "That's okay," she confided him, "I can't perform the regular Bunshin either. I don't think any Uzumaki can. We just have too much chakra."

"Too much chakra," Naruto repeated, looking surprised, "Isn't that a good thing though?"

"It can be a very good thing if you're working on high level jutsu," Naomi allowed, "But the Bunshin requires a miniscule- that means small, by the way- amount of chakra. An Uzumaki is born with naturally large and potent chakra, so we could never master such a simple technique. I'll teach you a stronger variation."

"Other Uzumaki had this problem?" Naruto asked eagerly, "Like a clan?"

"The Uzumaki Clan is famous for their large, potent chakra reserves, rapid healing, longevity- that means large lifespan- and fuuinjutsu," Naomi recalled, smiling at the excited look on Naruto's face, "That's two of the things I'll have to teach you about by the way. Our clan's history and fuuinjutsu."

"What's fuuinjutsu?" Naruto asked, wrinkling his nose in an expression that was, to Naomi, absolutely adorable.

"Let me show you," the older girl said, reaching into her shinobi pouch and removing a piece of paper and some ink. With a flourish, she drew a simple seal of four interlocking circles inside of a set of overlapping triangles with five indecipherable kanji and blew on it to dry it quickly. With a showman's wink at her rapt audience of one, Naomi took out a kunai, placed it on top of the seal, pumped in some chakra, and solemnly intoned 'Seal!' With a slight puff, the kunai had disappeared.

"Sugoi!" Naruto shouted, impressed by the actions of a paper, some ink, and a bit of chakra, "Can you get it back?"

Naomi smirked, "Why don't you pump some chakra into the seal, and see what will happen?"

Naruto eagerly took to that instruction, and within a moment, had a kunai under his awed eyes. "Will you really be teaching me that?" Naruto demanded to know.

"Yes," Naomi said simply, allowing the other blonde to pump his fist in the air in glee. She let him bounce up and down for a while, before reaching out a hand and gently cuffing him on the head.

"I wouldn't get too excited chibi," the girl said casually, relishing in the familiar way he glared at her, "We'll only start actual sealing techniques once you've mastered the rules, the styles, the kanji, and the techniques. Say a few months."

"I have to study for months before I can learn that," Naruto repeated, pouting, "That's so not fair."

"Say what you like Naruto, but every Uzumaki has been taught this way," Naomi told him, watching his reluctance slowly morph into glee at being able to partake in a family tradition. Naruto was indeed excited at being able to learn an exclusive ninja technique in a way that at least one of his parents had been taught. This was information that no one except for an Uzumaki would know, like Kiba's Inuzuka training or Shikamaru's clan techniques. This was information that his Clan had developed over generations of work.

"You know, I don't really have a place to live for a while," Naomi mused, "Would you mind if..."

"You can stay here," Naruto offered quickly, and maybe a little desperately, "We can get another futon and-"

"No, it's kind of too small for both of us to live here comfortably," Naomi said, catching sight of his dejected expression and amending her words, "We'll just have to buy a new house for ourselves tomorrow!"

"We?" Naruto asked hopefully, "But, wait, I don't have much money…"

"It's a good thing that I have a rather large, tidy sum all set and ready for our new house," Naomi replied, "Until then, I'll just stay in the couch here. You don't mind living with me, do you?"

"No, that- that would be great," Naruto said, stumbling over the words in his own excitement, "That would be awesome." He received a flashed grin in response, before Naomi made her way into the kitchen and proceeded to rummage through his cupboards.

"Okay, so ramen for dinner?" she said absently, as she removed the cups of instant ramen.

Naruto instantly brightened up, "Yes! It's my favorite food!"

"Mine too!" Naomi said brightly, before she wilted, "But I can't eat as much as I used to because the baby needs nutrients." Naruto eyes comically widened as they fell to her flat stomach and he squeaked out, 'baby'?

"Oh, I forgot to tell you, didn't I?" Naomi said, sheepishly, "I'm pregnant."

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_**Hello everyone. Okay, so these are the first two chapters to an entirely new Naruto story. I'm sorry to say that I'm just not as inspired by 'Forming Friendships' as I used to be, and that I need a new plot line as an outlet for my creative juices. I'm trying to add a little more originality and spontaneity to my writing, so I hope that anyone who reads this can warn me when I start to venture a little too closely towards pitfalls like excessive bashing or godlike complexes. **_


	3. Chapter 3

Naruto took the news of her pregnancy with surprising grace, and by that, Naomi meant that he did not lose consciousness. He seemed entirely more thrilled than anything else at the idea of expanding their makeshift little family, and had a plethora of questions for Naomi.

"Eh, Naomi-san are you married?" Naruto asked curiously. The blond woman threw her head back and laughed.

"Married? Well yes, I suppose so. I'm a widow though," she said, as she prepared their meal.

"Oh," Naruto replied, blushing, "But then- who's the father of the baby?"

The Nidaime Hokage, Naomi thought, before awkwardly smiling at him, "The father was another ANBU member who died in the mission I was on Naruto. We didn't get a chance to get married."

Naruto's eyes widened, "That's so sad, Naomi-san. I hope you're okay."

"Thanks Naruto, but I still have you and my baby now, so I'm not very sad," Naomi said, ruffling his spiky blond hair, "You'll still be here to take care of me, won't you?"

"Hai, I'll do my very best!" Naruto declared, puffing out his chest, "It's a promise, and I never break my promises. That's my nindo, my ninja way!"

"Really? Mine is usually kill first and ask questions later, but I think I prefer yours," Naomi mused seriously, before biting back a smile at his comical expression, "Anyway, would you rather have a little brother or a little sister?"

"Nani?" Naruto said, cocking his head to the side, "A sibling?"

"Well, I think I'm too old to take the place of a big sister," Naomi explained, "And you're still young enough to need a mother-figure, so I thought I could fill in that place instead."

Her good intentions faltered a little, as his blue eyes misted over, and she spoke in a softer tone, "You don't have to call me kaa-san if you don't want to. I think we're still a little too uncomfortable with each other for that, but maybe- as we get to know each other a little more- and maybe if you still want to-"

"Th-thank you Naomi-san," Naruto managed to say, futilely rubbing against his eyes, "I-I'm not really ready to call you that- but, I think I'd like to, one day."

"That would be wonderful," Naomi said, with genuine warmth, as she reached down and pulled the clinging boy into another hug. They moved apart when the ramen sizzled, and Naomi halfheartedly drew away to serve them both some of the lightly burned noodles. Even emotional upheavals and newly discovered family members couldn't ruin Naruto's appetite though, or Naomi's for that matter, and a good six cups of ramen were consumed… each.

It was a little after their meal that Naomi directed her younger counterpart to bed. Naruto, still caught up in the novelty of having a bedtime and being genuinely tired, only put up a token protest, before rushing to bed. With a mind on what she had desperately wished for as a child, Naomi tucked in his sheets and placed a kiss on his forehead. For the first time since the day of his birth, Naruto drifted off to sleep with a smile on his face.

The pseudo-jounin then quickly placed up a series of barrier seals- she'd have to make a stop at the bank tomorrow, Naomi thought decisively- and then fell to her own sleep.

Darkness. It was always a sweep of darkness that covered her, but slowly it became brighter. Small pinpricks of ice dashed across the sky's fledgling weaves; hallowed stars that provided no warmth. Pillars of light held up the room. Her limbs felt heavy and warm, she tried to drag them towards her, but they wouldn't move. They were displayed in oddly bent positions; her body splayed out like an inverted starfish. Moreover, Naomi felt so distinctly wrong.

Then the pillar of light broke.

Someone screamed. It was an unholy, unnatural sort of scream, sprung from horror and edged with heartbreak. And slowly she realized that she was the one screaming. The noises tapered off into quiet whimpers as arms folded around her. People were shouting around her, at her, and the brilliant blue eyes of Tobirama Senju locked onto hers through it all. It was his arms that she was cradled in, and his desperate platitudes that she ignored, as she curled into herself, ashamed and terrified.

She was alone. For the first time in her life, Naomi Uzumaki, Jinchuuriki of the Nine Tails, was alone.

She was no longer a human sacrifice, and for that, Naomi wept.

The blonde woman splayed out on the cot woke up to- of all manner of things- hunger pangs. Her body was restless and lined with a thin sheet of sweat of course, but it was primarily the hunger pangs that woke her up.

"Naruto," Naomi called, blearily deactivating the barrier seals and stretching, "Naruto, wake up. It's time for breakfast."

Not receiving a reply, the young woman merely shook her head, an amused smile playing at her lips, and readied herself for the morning. She would let Naruto catch up on his sleep, Naomi decided, since she had woken him up rather early. Activating her signature jutsu- thank god for Kage Bunshin- she ordered one copy to go shopping for groceries, another to check over the building's security, and and a third to find and summarize Naruto's checkbook. The original body sat down into a relaxing pose, and began to meditate.

It was to this scene that Naruto walked in, beckoned by the scent of breakfast cooking.

"Naomi-san?" Naruto voiced hesitatingly, as he saw all of the copies.

"Ah, Naruto," Naomi said, smiling, as she opened her eyes. Her usual sea-green hue had turned into a bright orange, with yellow rectangular bars across the iris, "Good morning." She stood up, and took the place of the cooking clone, which puffed away a second later.

"That. Was. So. Cool!" Naruto shouted, literally bouncing at the balls of his feet, "What's that jutsu, Naomi-san?"

"Just Naomi will be fine, Naruto," the woman smiled indulgently, "And that is the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. It's an A-ranked jutsu that creates solid clones that are very helpful for recon. It will be one of the first that I will teach you."

Naruto looked entirely too gleeful at the opportunity to learn an A-rank jutsu- Naomi assumed something, Sasuke, and bastard were passing through his head- so in a manner not entirely remiss of Jiraiya, she smiled sweetly and added, "After you bring up your grades in the Academy."

This had the desired effect of making him pout for a second, before his internal determination showed through, and he confidently boasted that she would be teaching him that jutsu in no time at all. Naomi had no trouble in believing that, since that was exactly what she herself would have done.

"I thought you might like some homemade ramen for breakfast," she said instead, offering him a large bowl of the softly simmering noodles, "It's actually an Uzumaki recipe."

Naruto's eyes widened, and he slowly put a chopstick full of the noodles into his mouth, "Naomi, this is delicious! This ramen is even better than Ichiraku's. You have to make it for me again!"

Naomi chuckled, genuinely pleased, "I'm glad you like it Naruto, but don't get too used to having raen for every meal. I plan on feeding you healthy foods too."

The boy pouted in response, before eagerly returning to his ramen. Naruto hadn't been lying when he said that this ramen was better than Ichiraku's. The broth was rich and warm, the noodles just on this side of spiced, and the salt peppered evenly over the bowl. The real attraction for the boy though, was the sheer joy in the knowledge that this was a family recipe; a piece of his heritage, that was just his… perhaps, his mother had even enjoyed this very same recipe in the past? The possibility enriched the ramen even more.

"Dont be shy," Naomi grinned, ladeling some more of the delicious noodles into his bowl, "There's plenty to go around. I also made a bento for you to take to school today."

Naruto brightened, "Really? That's awesome, Naomi. Thanks!" She waved away his gratitude.

"Naruto, you have to promise me something," Naomi said, seriously, as she bent down to look into Naruto's bright blue eyes, "You have to promise not to tell anyone in your class about me yet, okay? I haven't finished signing your adoption papers, and I don't want any of the civilians to try and put a stop to it."

The boy's eyes widened in worry at the possibility of losing his newfound family. "Why would they try to do that?" he said angrily, "It's none of their business if I want to live with my only family!"

Naomi nodded, and gently ran her hand through his spiky locks, "I know, Naruto. I don't think they'll be able to challenge it, but I don't want to give them a chance, okay?" The blonde boy gave a hesitant nod, and received an approving smile in reward. Naruto rather enjoyed receiving approval, especially from his new family.

As Naomi turned to clean up the bowls in the kitchen, Naruto got himself ready for school. He had an uncharacteristically thoughtful frown on his face as he readied his bag. Naruto had been hoping to brag about his newly discovered powerful family member, but he could deal with keeping his silence if that meant Naomi would adopt him. Why would any of the civilians want to interfere with his adoption, anyhow?

It's not as if they even liked him. Naomi had said that they were members of the famous Uzumaki Clan. Was he like Sasuke then, one of the last members of a famous, dying Clan? Was that why the Hokage didn't tell him anything about his parents? If they were powerful ninja, than their enemies could be after him! Still, he had Naomi now, and she seemed to be pretty strong. She used A-rank jutsu to do chores! Only a strong ninja could do that, right?

Naruto decided to keep his suspicions to himself for now, as he closed the straps of his bag and accepted a bento from Naomi. He hid his thrilled smile as she fussed over his clothing, and hugged him goodbye. Things were changing, Naruto decided, and he was rather happy with that.

Once Naruto had left, Naomi finished cleaning the kitchen and made a Kage Bunshin to clean the rest of the apartment. She hadn't brought a change of clothes with her, so this outfit would have to do until she had a chance to go shopping. Despite feeling a little grimy, Naomi regarded her situation with a sense of cautious optimism. She had money, the Hokage's ear, and an arsenal of kickass jutsu for anyone who got in her way. Best of all, she had Naruto.

Despite the fact that every adult in this village seemed to be aware of his burden, Naruto had turned out to be a relatively sane and very kindhearted boy. The marks of his isolation were still visible and entirely too real, but Naomi promised herself that she would break him out of his self-imposed shell.

Thoughts such as these were running through her head, as she jumped across the roofs of Konoha. Kami, had she missed this large, bustling village., even if she was more than a little displeased with a few of the villagers. Once Naomi had jumped into the Hokage's Tower, arriving- once again- by window, she saw that the Hokage had invited guests in the form of the Elders and-

"Danzo!" Naomi shouted gleefully, startling the heavily bandaged man with an impromptu tackle hug, "It's so great to see you alive!" The other occupants of the room seemed rather taken back with the greeting, though none more so than the recipient of the hug, who none too gently pushed the woman off of him.

"Please refrain from doing that again," Danzo Shimura said coldly, glaring down at the grinning Naomi.

The blonde woman pouted, "Aw, aren't you happy to see your favorite Uzumaki, Danzo-san?"

He twitched, "The only Uzumaki I had ever enjoyed seeing was your great-grandmother, Mito. You, much like your mother, have no sense of decorum and personal space."

"Eh, you know you love me," she said dismissively, shaking her hand in the air, before turning to the other two guests and bowing, "Honored Elders, I apologize for the disturbance. My name's Naomi Uzumaki. How may I be of service?"

Danzo twitched even more violently, as Homura coughed to hide his chuckles and Koharu bit her lip to suppress laughter. Sarutobi made no move to disguise his wide grin.

"Naomi Uzumaki," Koharu began, tipping her head in acknowledgement to the younger woman's clan, and all that they had sacrificed for Konoha, "I welcome you to our humble village. It is truly a blessing to find another Uzumaki in our home once again."

Naomi nodded, and softly replied, "It is an honor for the whirlpool to be among the leaves as well. I thank you for your kindness." The Elder nodded approvingly at this traditional claim of friendship.

"Sarutobi has told us of your story," Homura continued, "I must admit that the news you have brought is… troubling. Yet forewarned and forearmed, and the Leaf shall undoubtedly benefit from your information."

"Naomi holds fast to the Will of Fire," Sarutobi added proudly, "Much like her father and her mother."

"And her counterpart?" Danzo interjected dryly, looking at the young woman with keen, jaded eyes, "I was told that you desired to adopt him?"

Naomi nodded, "His abilities are being stunted. I can help him grow into a strong shinobi, and deepen his connections to this village." She gave him a small smile, "And he will undoubtedly deepen my connections to this village."

The other members of this discussion shifted imperceptibly, and Homura chose to speak next, "Your claimed abilities are certainly impressive. Can you live up to them?"

This time, Naomi's smile held more than an edge of coldness and daring, "I would be happy to demonstrate my abilities for the Honored Elders. I suppose you would mainly be interested in the Hiraishin? My father and lover both used that jutsu to great effect, and they taught me."

Koharu's eyes widened and she said, eagerly, "So it's true then? You carry the Nidaime's child?"

A stirring of interest passed between the Elders and the Hokage as Naomi nodded happily, and placed a hand on her stomach, "I only learned that I was pregnant two weeks ago."

"You should move into the Senju Clan Compound then," Homura offered, seemingly genuinely thrilled at the idea of another Senju in the village, "I am sure that young Naruto would be very pleased to grow up there."

Naomi brightened, "I can adopt him, then?"

"His potential would be wasted otherwise," Danzo replied, internally mourning the loss of bringing the Kyuubi jinchuuriki into Ne. The program would be entirely wasted on the boy, since not only had he outgrown the period of impressment necessary for a proper Ne soldier, but if he was anything like his mother, than the program would be, at best, partially effective.

Danzo was a practical man though, and he could accept another ninja of the same temperament as the Yondaime, especially if Naruto could reach his father's- and even better, his counterpart's- caliber. Minato Namikaze was a kind and generous man outside of battle, but he knew when to control his emotions, and apparently, so did his daughter.

Said daughter was giving him an amused smile as if she was aware of the thoughts going through his head. The hardened veteran warily returned her keen gaze. The girl was entirely too similar to Mito-sama for his comfort.

"After you have a chance to get settled, an S-rank mission to review Konoha's seal barrier will be given to you," Sarutobi said, pushing Naruto's readied adoption papers towards her, "Afterwards, a battle to test your capabilities would not be remiss, and you will be invited to my home for dinner, of course."

"Thanks Saru-jiji," Naomi replied, quickly reviewing and signing the necessary documents, "Hey, can I tell Naruto about his mother? He already has her name, so the danger level will be pretty minimal."

The Sandaime considered that for a moment, before nodding, "Naruto should have a chance to learn about his family."

"Great," Naomi chirped, "Then can I also reactivate the Uzumaki Clan?"

"It's a tempting idea, Hiruzen," Koharu said, before the Sandaime could make a decision, "One child to Head the Senju Clan, and Naruto to inherit the Uzumaki Clan Head. Until then, Naomi can take Headship of both Clans."

"If they start the Uzumaki Clan, than Naruto can never take on his father's name," Homura argued, "Minato Namikaze's name could be useful for the village one day."

"Naruto could take both names," Naomi offered, "Besides, Dad was a no-name orphan, while Mom came from a famous, established Clan. He had been planning to take her name in the future, anyway."

"True," Homura mused, "And the Uzumaki were an ennobled Clan, weren't they?"

"The rebirth of one of the Great Clans would be a great boon to Konoha," Koharu urged, "If it's necessary, than we can even release the information about Minato's marriage to Kushina, and strengthen the Clan's reputation."

Sarutobi nodded, considering the words, "Very well, Naomi. I shall call a Council Meeting in a few days, and you may present your case to the Council. As for your child… there are still a few Senju civilians still alive, and we can possibly concoct a story about one member of the ANBU with Senju blood marrying you shortly before his death."

Sarutobi paused, and leveled her with a stern look, "Do not corrupt my first great-grandchild." His face breaking out in a smile revealed that warning to be a joke, and Naomi laughed. With a mischievous smile, she ran across the room, flipped over Hokage's desk, and tackled him into a tight hug.

"You're the best, Saru-jiji!"


	4. Chapter 4

Naomi's first stop after the meeting was the bank. The Senju Clans' bank account was empty due to the terrible gambling habits of Tsunade Senju, but that didn't bother Naomi much since she hadn't been planning to access that account anyway. The bank tellers would undoubtedly notice, and then she would be plagued by a village full of rumor mongers, when all she wanted to do was stay low for the moment.

Instead of heading to one of the tellers that dealt with established Clan Banks, Naomi walked up to one of the individual shinobi tellers.

The man smiled up at her, "Hello. My name's Ichiko Matsuri, and I will be your teller today. What is your business for today?"

"I would like to open an account," she informed the tall, brown-haired civilian at the desk.

"Excellent. The National Bank of Konohagakure requires a minimum deposit of 20,000 yen to open an account," he replied, politely, "Do you have the required amount?"

"Let me see," Naomi took out her two bank drafts, "Yeah, I do. Apparently your average S-rank mission is a healthy 525,000 yen. I have two such payments."

The bank teller's eyes widened when he saw the amounts on the papers. "Excuse me, ma'am," he said hurriedly, standing up, "But I'm not authorized to deal with such large payments. Please wait for me to get my supervisor."

Naomi nodded, a tad impatiently, as the man all but ran through a side door. She lazily looked over the rest of the room. It seemed that only a few other people were inside of the building, since it was still rather early for the majority of transactions to occur. Her eyes widened when she saw a dark haired woman with red eyes depositing some money.

Kurenai left soon after, and Naomi returned her sea-green eyes towards the door, where her teller had reappeared, this time followed by an older gentlemen, with distinguished grey hair.

The older gentlemen bowed to her, "I apologize for this delay, shinobi-san. My name is Sate Iwato, and I am the President of this Bank. Your sum was so large, that we had to have it verified by an independent source."

"Then it was no trouble at all, Iwato-san," Naomi replied, "May I create my account, now?"

"Of course," Iwato-san answered, taking out a sheaf of papers, "Will this be a Clan account, a Family account, or a Personal account, shinobi-san?"

"A family account," Naomi said, accepting the pen offered to her, and filling out the papers, "I would like to have it accessible by me, and to an amount up to 10,000 yen by my son. This may be upgraded to a Clan account soon, though." The man's eyes widened in understanding, and he nodded.

"I see," he replied, "The bank fees and interest rates are all listed in the documents. Ah, shinobi-san- would you mind offering your surname? It will be held with discretion, of course."

Naomi tensed, and offered the man a warning smile, "Uzumaki."

If possible, the man's eyes widened even more, and a moment of silence passed between the two. "I see," he repeated softly, assessing the young woman with sharp eyes, "Not everyone has forgotten your Clan's contribution to our village, madam. Welcome to Konoha."

Naomi gave him a wider and more genuine smile, as he accepted and filed the papers, "Thank you, Iwato-san."

Her business thus concluded, Naomi pocketed a few thousand yen, bowed to the bank's president, and walked outside. She had a healthy million in the bank, notwithstanding any accounts her mother or father may have left behind, since Naomi and Naruto most likely wouldn't even be able to access them until Naruto came of age, and didn't even have to spend a large sum on procuring a home since the Senju Compound had been made available to her. The amount would be more than capable to tiding them over for a year or so, though Naomi had every intention of widening the family's coffers, starting with the upcoming S-rank barrier mission.

A smile broke across Naomi's face, as she hastened her pace and made her way to the Senju Compound. The Compound had been placed at the outskirts of Konoha, and was one of those secret places that was technically known to the public but largely forgotten over time. It was a relatively small compound of three main buildings- a family home, a greenhouse, and a dojo- that was surrounded by a great wooden wall inscribed with seals. Naomi hesitated at the closed barrier that held the Senju and Uzumaki crests embossed next to each other, and placed her hand against the door. She released her chakra, and let it flow into the wood.

With a mighty creaking sound, the walls of the Senju Compound slowly opened into an area that was marked more by the wild than by civilization. She took an anxious step onto the overgrown weeds around the entrance, and gasped when light gold-green chakra escaped her feet and made the weeds shrink away.

"What the hell?" Naomi asked, amazed, as her stomach glowed with the same gold-green chakra, "You have to be kidding me. My baby inherited the Mokuton?!"

Her question clearly didn't receive an answer, even as she delightedly laughed, and took another step into the compound. Her path was slowly marked by the shrinking weeds and flourishing plant life that grew behind her as she walked up to the main house. Despite the many years that had passed since a Senju resided in this home, the wooden walls were strong and thrumming with Hashirama's chakra. In a manner similar to that which she saw Hashirama do in her own world, Naomi placed a hand on the house, and let the gold-green chakra escape through her fingertips. Her hand tingled with the shock of the nature chakra, as the strong branches which enveloped the house in a protective, cocoon slowly drew back and returned to their place.

Naomi bit her lip as the current of chakra began to fluctuate wildly and become somewhat painful, as though she was holding an electrical current. She drew her own chakra back into her body, and gently rubbed her hand against her stomach, until the wild nature of the chakra drew back, and disappeared. The tips of her fingers, which had mainly channeled the chakra, was red and sensitive as though it was lightly burned. Her own Uzumaki heritage quickly healed the minor injury when she channeled her chakra into the area, and Naomi stepped into the opened home.

"This house looks to be in good shape, don't you think?" Naomi said aloud, rubbing her stomach absently, "It doesn't have any furniture, and it's just a tad too dusty… your nii-san and I will make it as good as new soon though!" She privately wondered if it was not a little weird of her to be talking to her unborn child. She had seen a few pregnant woman do it before though, so it must be normal, right?

Shaking her head to rid herself of these thoughts, Naomi performed the single tiger seal necessary to make her Kage Bunshin, and surveyed the dark room with a critical eye. "Clone Alpha, you will take two clones and clean up the the three buildings," she ordered, "Clone Beta, you will go to Saru-jiji and ask him if he can arrange for running water and electricity for the house. Check the wires and pipes first though. I'm pretty sure that they'll be in good shape, and the only thing to do would be to notify the utility managers. Clone Gamma, you shall go shopping for groceries and my clothing! I'll take Naruto for his own clothes and furniture shopping later. Understood?"

"Hai!" the five clones chorused, before they hurried off to their jobs. Naomi took the time to remove the protective branches around the dojo and the greenhouse, before she hurried out of the Compound. She had to pick up Naruto!

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Naruto Uzumaki hadn't been having as eventful a morning as his new family member. He had arrived to school on time, much to the slight shock of Iruka-sensei, and received a long lecture for ditching class to prank the village yesterday. The momentous events of yesterday had completely driven that fact out of his mind, so Naruto was a little surprised to be receiving the lecture. Despite the fact that he wanted to argue with the older man, Naruto kept his mouth shut, since he really, really wanted Naomi to adopt him.

The novelty of having a quiet Naruto disgruntled Iruka so much that he even cut his lecture short, gave a deep sigh, and directed Naruto to take a seat among his snickering classmates. The Uzumaki made an appeal to sit next to his crush, Sakura Haruno, was rather violently rebuffed, and uncharacteristically had the bitter thought that, "Well, Naomi-chan is a lot prettier than Sakura-chan, and she's a strong ninja too!"

He kept that thought to himself, and sat next to Shikamaru instead, who offered him a sleepy greeting. Naruto was actually fairly quiet for most of the day, apprehension over whether or not Naomi would be able to adopt him keeping him from acting out too much. He desperately hoped that the answer would be yes, even though Naruto knew that most things that he wished for never happened, and he tried to ruthlessly squash that hope.

There was just something about Naomi that made him think she would take care of him, hell or high water.

"Naruto, are you paying attention?" Iruka interrupted suspiciously, near the end of the day. Naruto drew back, startled.

"Eh, what was the question again, Iruka-sensei?" Naruto said sheepishly, as some of the members of the class looked on eagerly, waiting for the blonde boy to be humiliated.

Iruka raised his eyebrow, "I was talking about fuuinjutsu, Naruto. Can you give me an example of fuuinjutsu?"

The Uzumaki brightened. He actually knew this answer! "You can seal kunai and stuff into a storage scroll, right sensei?" Naruto offered.

The man looked surprised and pleased by that answer. "That's correct, Naruto. Good job."

"All in a day's work, Iruka-sensei!" Naruto gave the Chuunin his customary fox-like grin. The class settled back in disappointment, as Iruka continued on his lesson.

The end of the class occurred not soon after, and Iruka gave a few last minute reminders for homework, as the students gathered their bags and readied themselves to leave. The bell rang, and the class slowly tumbled out of the building.

"Naruto!" the boy's eyes shot like a missile to pretty young kunoichi, who jumped from a nearby roof and into the Academy's front grounds, "He said yes!"

"Yes!" Naruto shouted, barreling into the laughing woman's arms. He didn't notice the number of students who paused, stunned, as the blonde kunoichi lifted him up and swung him around in glee. Neither were aware of the dark, envious glare offered by a dark haired Uchiha in Naruto's class.

"I even have a house ready for us," she informed him, grinning and placing his body back to the ground, "Though we'll still have to shop for furniture soon, and guess what? I can tell you about your mom!"

Naruto's eyes widened, and he tackled her in another tight hug, "Naomi, you are the best!"

"I know," the woman said modestly, before a smile crossed her face, "By the way, we have a dinner invitation to Saru-jiji's tomorrow. You up for it?"

The boy nodded fervently, as some of his classmates reached the pair.

"Hey Naruto!" Kiba shouted, skidding up to the boy, "Who's the babe?"

As Naruto scowled at the Inuzuka, Naomi offered her hand in welcome, "Hello, my name's Naomi Uzumaki. I'm Naruto's cousin, and I just recently adopted him."

"You and Naruto are related?" Ino Yamanaka, the second of the Academy students to reach them interrupted, "I thought that Naruto was the only Uzumaki in the village."

"I just got back from a long-term S-rank mission," Naomi offered, drawing the short boy towards her, and ruffling his blonde hair, "I just learned that Naruto and I are cousins, and I adopted him."

Ino's eyes took on a bit of a calculating glint at the possibility of new gossip, "Oh, that's cool. So you guys are living together now?"

"Yeah, at the Senju Compound," Naomi revealed, much to Ino's sheer delight.

"The Senju Compound?" Naruto's brow furrowed in question, "But neither of us are Senju… oh! Your husband used to be a Senju, right?" At Naomi's nod, he gave himself a pleased nod.

"Did you say that you're pregnant with a Senju child?" Shikamaru asked, intently, "I thought that Tsunade was the last Senju?" The other kids surrounding them, Ino, Kiba, Shino, Shikamaru, Choji, and a few civilians all looked extremely interested by their answers.

"My husband was a Senju member of ANBU from a very young age," Naomi said quietly, as the Clan kids nodded in recognition of the fact that ANBU identities were kept secret from the village. "Regardless, the Hokage recognized my child's heritage, and the Compound's gates opened for me."

'And no one can deny our right if the Clan Compound welcomes us,' Naomi thought, pleased, since it was a proven fact that the Senju gates opened for either the Clan's chakra or blood.

Ino opened her mouth, no doubt to let loose a series of questions, but Naomi just offered a quick grin, scooped a startled yet pleased Naruto up in her arms, and jumped into the air.

"Bye guys!" Naruto waved his hand over the stunned crowd of classmates, as Naomi jumped through the rooftops. "Naomi-chan, where are we going?"

"Shopping for supplies would be best, Naruto," Naomi replied, gently landing in a darkened alley and letting Naruto land on his feet again, "Do you know how to do the Henge?" Naruto nodded.

"Okay, then would you mind disguising your features for a little bit?" Naomi asked, "It'll help us get our shopping done more quickly, and then we can get home in time for dinner. My clone's making udon and yakitori."

Naruto nodded again, this time a bit more sadly, as he realized the point she was trying to make. If he went into a shop as himself, than the shopkeepers might throw them out.

"I promise that one day soon, they'll regret even thinking about treating you like that," Naomi said fiercely, as she read the correct emotions in her eyes, "We're going to reform the Uzumaki Clan, Naruto, and when we do, no one will treat the Heir of the Uzumaki Clan like trash. And if they do, I'll make them regret it."

"Thanks Naomi-chan," Naruto said, turning away so he could briefly clear his eyes of tears. No one had ever stood up for him like that before. He knew that the Ichiraku's and Old Man Hokage would do it if he told them about the bias, but he had never wanted to make a burden of himself, and here was Naomi, not only realizing his fears, but promising to correct them along the way.

With a determined expression, Naruto formed the seals for Henge and transformed himself into a slender boy with light brown hair and sea-green eyes like Naomi-chan. His clothes changes into a light blue shirt and plain black shorts.

Naomi gave him an approving nod, before reaching down and taking his hand in hers. Naruto allowed the older woman to hold his hand as they stepped into a nearby furniture store. He paused, amazed by the quantity and quality of the brand-new furniture. Everything that he had bought had been second hand.

"Excuse-me, are you the manager?" Naomi asked, walking up to a well-dressed civilian woman manning the register.

"Hai," she replied, "I'm Haruno Satsuri. How may I help you?"

Naruto looked taken aback at meeting a member of Sakura's family, though he could see that her pale pink hair and light green eyes did look similar to Sakura-chan's. She seemed a lot nicer than Sakura though.

As though she was reading Naruto's mind, Naomi smiled and asked, "I just recently inherited a new home, and need to furnish it fully. By the way, are you in any way related to Sakura Haruno."

"She's my niece," the woman answered, smiling briefly, "Is your son also in the Academy?"

The woman looked over at Naruto who, despite feeling somewhat odd at being referred to as someone's son, replied, "Hai. She's in my class."

"It's nice to meet you," the woman nodded to him, before returning her gaze to Naomi, "Now shinobi-san, what would you like to purchase?"

"Two beds," Naomi began, releasing Naruto's hand, and walking up to the group of beds, "I'll also need two dressers, a dining table, a kitchen table, two sets of chairs for both tables, a student desk, a work desk, and two- no, make that three- mirrors. A set of kitchen cabinets, a sofa set, a living room table, two smaller tables of the same design, and a china cabinet. Do you have any suggestions, Akito?"

Naruto was silent for a moment, before he realized that he was supposed to be Akito and said, "Um… no, kaa-san."

Naomi nodded in understanding, before looking directly at the semi-stunned Haruno, "Money is not a problem. I'd like all of the furniture to be of the same walnut wood, something of a dark brown hue would be best."

"And carpets!" Naruto suddenly remembered, "We- ah- need those too."

Naomi nodded and smiled at him in thanks, "Yes, carpets, drapes, and dining cloths are also needed. What color would you like for your room, Akito?"

Naruto didn't even need to think. "Orange!" he declared. Naomi shuddered.

"A dark orange," Naomi offered as a compromise, and received a happy nod in return, "Alright, so a set of drapes with dark orange, along with a soft orange circular rug. Dark blue carpeting for the dining hall and living room, with matching drapes, and a set of dark blue drapes only for my own room. By any chance, do you sell paint?"

"H-hai," Haruno replied, still in the midst of shock.

"Okay, so I want a small bucket of pale orange, and robin's egg blue paint for the rest of the house," Naomi finished, "Akito, feel free to pick up any odds and ends you might like to add to your own room. Oh, and a bookshelf of walnut."

Naruto nodded, and happily jumped into his chosen task, as Naomi patiently waited for the Haruno woman to snap out of her daze. "You do accept checks, right?" Naomi inquired, receiving a thrilled nod in reply.

Naruto's additions included a bright orange lamp and frog shaped clock, among a few other pieces that Naomi remembered to add in. One gleefully accepted check and sealing of furniture (to the amazement of Haruno and Naruto) later, Naruto and Naomi cheerfully stepped out of the shop, leaving an exceptionally happy manager behind.

This scene replayed itself twice more, as Naomi dragged Naruto into a clothing shop and commissioned an entire wardrobe worth of clothing- which included a healthy amount of orange, much to Naruto's gratification- and then once again, when Naruto was brought into a shinobi weapon's shop and gifted with new sets of kunai, shuriken, and wires.

Naruto sadly, but not unexpectedly, noted that the prices they were offered were a lot lower than the ones he had been offered when he had shopped alone in his real form.

The two exhausted Uzumaki finally returned to the Clan Compound, tired yet pleased by the day's work.


	5. Chapter 5

The Senju Clan Compound was currently a bustle of activity. A handful of clones were pruning and clearing the overgrown weed infestation that was called their garden, another handful running around the house moving and placing the furniture, and a third doing miscellaneous duties like clearing up the kitchen or folding away the occupant's clothing. In this whirlwind of activity was Naruto Uzumaki, who sat in his new kitchen table and ate a meal of udon and yakitori. The spicy chicken was rather well offset by the generally plain taste of the heavy wheat noodles.

His new adopted mother was standing in their kitchen ordering around her small army of replicas. Naruto took a minute to marvel over the fact that he was in the house of the Shodaime and Nidaime Hokages. This was beyond awesome. Kiba would be so jealous!

Naruto paused in his eating to give an entirely manly giggle, before he resumed staring at Naomi.

The blonde woman was extremely confident, Naruto found, and rather wealthy, although today's shopping trip did make a significant dent in her savings. Naomi estimated that she spent roughly twenty percent of her wealth to furnish their home, though she assured Naruto that she would replenish the money soon, and that the purchases were necessary.

Naruto found that he rather liked walking through the half-filled home (it was large, and they were only two people so far), and seeing the brand-new furniture. The distinctive scent of paint still wafted through the house, which had been completely painted only an hour ago. He was concerned about sleeping with the heavy scent, before Naomi used a powerful gust of wind to get rid of the majority of the scent.

"Naomi-chan, aren't you going to have something to eat?" Naruto asked, lifting his bowl up to punctuate the point.

"Hmm?" she asked, distractedly, turning to him, "Oh. Yes, I'll have something to eat now." She sat down next to him and quickly prepared a plate for herself.

"Naruto, have you received any homework from school today?" she asked.

Naruto cringed. "Yeah, I forgot about that!" he laughed nervously at her pointed look, "Um… I have to finish some questions about jiji's reign and then practice shuriken throwing."

"Well, I have to write up a complaint to the civilian council regarding the merchant's overcharging you later, but why don't I help you with your throwing after we eat?" Naomi offered, "As for now, Saru-jiji gave me permission to tell you about your mother."

Naruto nodded, hesitantly, as he nibbled his lips, "Wh-What was her name?" He sounded equal parts fearful and hopeful for her answers.

"Her name was Kushina Uzumaki," Naomi answered, closing her eyes as though she was slipping into a memory, "She was a spunky redhead who told anyone who would listen that she would be the first female Hokage. She was a bit of a tomboy and a foreigner from the Uzumaki Clan's Uzushiogakure, so the boys in her class would tease her. They'd regret that later on when she grew up to be one of the most beautiful kunoichi in the Leaf."

"Kushina was the heiress of an ancient and noble shinobi clan, but you wouldn't know that from the way she would act," Naomi said fondly, "She was loud and brash and disrespectful of authority- a grade A prankster with a fondness for ramen. She grew up to be a very skilled kunoichi; she was good at taijutsu, kenjutsu, fuuinjutsu- naturally- and ninjutsu. The only thing she really sucked at was genjutsu, though, paradoxically, her Iiijutsu wasn't that bad."

The woman paused. "Kushina could use a special type of technique utilized by the Uzumaki Clan called chakra chains. Let me show you." Then, to Naruto's awed gaze, metallic chains that glowed slightly with chakra erupted from Naomi's body and lazily waved through the air like multiple tails. Each chain was tipped with a sharp spike that Naruto had no trouble believing could slice through flesh and bone with easy. After a minute, Naomi retracted the chains.

"She used to hate her red hair," Naomi recalled, "Because when she was younger, they would tease her for it, and her round face, by calling her 'Tomato'. Your father admired that hair though, and one day, when she was kidnapped by Kumo nin due to her… special chakra, your father followed the trail of red hairs Kushina left behind in the hope that she could be found, and saved her. After that, she decided that her red hair was the 'red threat of fate' that brought her and your father together. Before that, she had decided that your father had been a wimp."

Naomi paused again, and reached into her pocket to remove what she considered to be one of her greatest treasures. "This is a picture of Kushina Uzumaki. I want you to have it."

Naruto raised a trembling hand and took ahold of the photo. In it was a beautiful young woman with long, dark red hair up to her waist, and sea green eyes smiling into the camera. She was standing in a position that allowed the Hokage Monument to be seen in the background, and one hand had reached up to form a mocking salute to the person taking the picture. The playfulness of her posture was only accentuated by slight flash of teeth forming a mischievous grin.

"She's so beautiful," Naruto whispered, greedily drinking in the picture, "I- Naomi- thank you."

Naomi bent down her head in welcome, and allowed Naruto to stare at the picture in silence. She quietly cleared away their dishes, kindly allowing the boy to cry peacefully. Finally, Naruto raised his hand and rubbed across the thin marks on his cheeks to wipe away his tears.

"Naomi," Naruto began, placing the photo on the table, "Can we frame this?"

"I thought you might like to, so I bought some frames at the store," Naomi answered, heading over to one of the few unpacked boxes, and removing a small bedside frame of dark orange, "Here."

Naruto carefully inserted the photo behind the glass, and stood up. Naomi followed him as he walked into his new bedroom, a spacious corner room with large windows that let in the fading evening light, and put the picture on his bedside table. The smiling face of Kushina Uzumaki would be the first thing that he would wake up to each morning.

"Naomi?" Naruto broke their self-imposed silence, as he turned and buried his face into her side in a tight hug. The rest of his words were almost lost to her since he mumbled them. "I'm glad you're here."

"So am I, Naruto," the young woman replied, "So am I."

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As Naruto Uzumaki was learning about his mother, the rest of the village of Konoha was quietly being caught up in a whirlpool of gossip. One such discussion occurred among some important wives in a high-end beauty salon.

"My daughter told me that they were going to live in the Senju Compound!" Takemori Yamanaka offered, as she laid back and waited for her hair to dry. "She goes to school with the boy."

"My daughter said the same thing," Kimiko Natsuri, a well-off merchant's wife, added, "Can you believe the ridiculousness of it? The Kyuubi brat living in the Senju Compound!"

Mebuki Haruno frowned at the other woman. "You know that the law doesn't stand for such names!" she reminded the woman harshly, "It's not the poor boy's fault that he was made the container. Honestly, this prejudice is ridiculous."

"My husband says the same," Yoshino Nara nodded to the retired kunoichi in support, "He also said that the Senju Compound was opened today, and that someone requested for the water and electricity to be activated. I suppose that they're actually living in the Compound, then."

"Surely they can't be allowed to stay there?" another civilian wife grimaced, "Honestly they're not even Senju."

"Apparently the woman who claims to be the Uzumaki boy's cousin is carrying with a Senju child," Takemori answered, "The Hokage has verified that fact, and the Compound did open for her. There's nothing to be done for removing them if the Compound accepts her chakra, and the Hokage blesses the move. If anything, we should be pleased that Konoha is gaining another Senju."

"She had to buy an entire home's worth of furniture," Mebuki recalled from what her sister had told her, "She had brought a young boy with her- oh! The poor child must have had to go under a Henge to get some decent service."

"That's awful," Yoshino frowned, "I don't know about any of you, but I used to love learning about history, Tell me, have any of you heard about the Uzumaki Clan?"

"No, I thought that the boy was a clanless orphan," Takemori answered, looking interested, "Unless he was related to-"

"Yes, he's part of that Uzumaki Clan," Yoshino said, nodding, "They founded Uzushiogakure, a nation that had been destroyed in the Second Shinobi War. One of their most famous members were Mito Senju… nee Uzumaki."

The rest of the woman looked at her in surprise as she smiled, "It seems only fitting then that our next Senju also be half Uzumaki, doesn't it?"

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"Naruto, be careful!" Naomi shouted, as she practically jumped towards the ground to avoid the erratically thrown shuriken. "Kami, you really do need help." The two Uzumaki were in front of a set of dusty targets that were hung against the Senju Compound walls.

"Gomen Naomi," Naruto winced, as another shuriken missed the target to fell into the foliage.

"Okay, first things first," Naomi muttered, "Fall into your throwing stance. No, it's not supposed to be like that. Hold your right leg a little further apart. Good, and don't bend your elbows inward. That makes it easier for an enemy to get into your guard. Also, align your body-"

The lesson continued at Naomi patiently and efficiently fixed each and every mistake Naruto made, with bits of encouragement here and there to push the boy to do his very best. It was nightfall by the time that Naruto's marks had moved from a low three times out of ten to a solid eight out of ten, with the potential to be improved even more with some practice. The Uzumaki boy was grinning, pleased with his improvement, as he walked back into his home to complete the rest of his questions. Naomi watched him head indoors, before she jumped onto one of the large trees marking the property. Hashirama Senju had left behind several huge trees that made up the majority of his compund, and still contained traces of his wild nature chakra.

She lied against the branches, closed her eyes for a minute, and thought.

Naomi had a lot to do.


	6. Chapter 6

Naruto turned, and offered a wave to the young woman seeing him off from the Compound's gates. She returned his gesture, and so, with a happy smile on his face, Naruto turned and hurried down the street to the Village. The Senju Compound was a good distance away from the majority of the village homes, and surrounded by large boughs of oak and pine. In standard Fire Country weather, bright sunlight filtered down through the broad leaves in the trees, and splattered across the ground in delicate filigrees.

It was a nice, reasonable walk since Naomi made sure to drag him out of bed in a completely ungodly hour to have breakfast and do some light exercises. Naruto submitted to stretches and jogging with minimal protest, since his new relative was apparently a sadistic monster who enjoyed throwing shuriken as 'motivation' for slow students. She made up for it later though, when she showed him the ramen that she had made for his bento today.

Naruto was slightly disconcerted by the looks the villagers kept throwing him though. The majority had their usual indifference (in the case of shinobi) or dislike (in the case of civilians), but a few gave him looks that were curious or speculative, and therefore, downright creepy. He offered those people the fake, polite smile usually offered to the deranged, before hurrying past them, or occasionally changing streets and having to double back. It was due to this, that despite having left home early, Naruto ended up almost late to class.

"Hello Iruka-sensei!" Naruto chirped, eagerly making his way to his seat. When he saw the way his teachers, and the rest of the students, were staring at him though, he paused, "...Eh, what's wrong, sensei?"

"Naruto, what are you wearing?" Iruka questioned, staring at him with surprise. Naruto looked down at his outfit with a genuinely curious face. He was wearing a simple grey shirt with the blood red Uzumaki spiral pressed onto the back and black slacks with multiple baggy pockets. Dark orange bandages were wrapped around both thighs, and against both of his forearms- which was Naomi's limit with the color orange- and typical shinobi sandals were on his feet.

"Is there anything wrong with this?" Naruto asked, looking dubious, "Oh! I see what you mean, Iruka-sensei! Thanks for reminding me." Then, to his classmates further shock, Naruto rummaged through his black and orange book bag and removed one of those small, one-time attachable clan seals, and plastered the Senju Clan Symbol on his right sleeve.

"There!" Naruto declared happily, "Much better!"

"Hey, Naruto, are you allowed to wear the Senju symbol?" Ino asked curiously. The expressions on many of his classmates differed from anger in the faces of many of the civilians to a wary curiosity held by many of the clan heirs.

"Naomi's holding the- what was the word… eh, regency! Yeah, she's holding the regency of the Senju Clan until her son becomes a Chuunin, and takes over Headship of the Clan. That, or until Tsunade Senju comes back to the village," Naruto explained, "She said I could wear it, since I'm technically a ward of the Clan, and the Uzumaki Clan used to be in an alliance with the Senju Clan anyway."

Sakura looked at him skeptically, "I've never heard of an Uzumaki Clan before."

"The Shodaime's wife was an Uzumaki," Naruto retorted, "My Clan also founded Uzushiogakure, before it was wiped out in the Second Shinobi War by the combined forces of Iwa, Kumo, and Kiri. Our clan symbol in the Uzumaki spiral, which was placed on all of the Konoha flak jackets as a symbol of their friendship with our clan. We were famous for our fuuinjutsu, chakra reserves, and fast healing! We were one of the Great Clans, and I'm going to make sure that we become a Great Clan once again!"

The girl's mouth shut, as she sat, stunned, by the passionate defense.

"How do you plan to do that if you're a deadlast?" Sasuke sneered, leaning forward, "And your Clan doesn't sound all that impressive, anyway. Weren't they destroyed in the Second War?"

Many of the clan heirs fidgeted in their seats, and Kiba even made a move to open his mouth and stop this. There were some barriers that any clan affiliated shinobi knew not to cross, and the blatant disrespect afforded to a fallen clan was one of them.

"At least we needed a foreign army to take us out, instead of a single traitor," Naruto sneered, his expression bordering on something ugly. Sasuke snarled, and before anyone could see what was happening, he jumped over his seat and tackled Naruto. One of the girls screamed as the two boys rolled across the floor, Sasuke furiously throwing punches towards Naruto's face. The blonde boy was giving back as good as he got, including using his stronger body to twist the smaller body towards the floor. Sasuke was struggling to regain his position, when Iruka snapped out of his shock long enough to make a move.

"STOP!" Iruka shouted, as the Chuunin forcefully pulled the two boys apart. Sasuke had a rapidly darkening bruise around his eye, as well as a broken nose, while Naruto's face was littered with cuts and punches, though none of his bones were broken. Iruka threw them both on the ground, where they stood, making no move, although they glared at each other.

"Sasuke, that was out of line!" Iruka roared, "You do not ever- and I mean EVER- disrespect an allied shinobi Clan like that! And Naruto, what were you thinking rising to his bait, like that? You're hardly any better! And now, you both need medical attention." Naruto scowled at his Uchiha classmate.

"I don't need medical attention, sensei," Naruto said, smugly, as he poured some chakra towards his cuts, the way Naomi had briefly shown him last night. The chakra enveloped the area around his injuries, and much to the room's shock, his injuries rapidly healed. The flesh closed together and new skin grew over the cut, until a pale pink line was on his face, which slowly faded into his normal skin tone. Sasuke merely glared at him.

"Naruto?" Iruka said, sounding hesitant, as the blonde boy's blue chakra slowly slid away from the cuts and back into his body. His student raised a hand, and placed it against his face, feeling the smooth expanse of skin.

"That was my Clan's abilities, sensei," Naruto answered him, although he was looking at Sasuke while he said it.

"That was pretty cool, Naruto," Kiba complimented him, looking truly impressed, "You never did that before. Did your new family member show you?"

"Yeah," Naruto nodded, pleased, "Naomi said it was an Uzumaki trademark to channel chakra into our injuries after a battle, usually with a Ram seal to… er, regulate it. She called it the Divine Chakra Cloak. It's the first of ten Uzumaki signature moves."

"Do you know any others?" Choji asked, in between snacking on his chips.

"Well, she only showed me that move last night, so no," Naruto said, rubbing his head sheepishly, "She said that she'll teach me one more, before I become a genin, and then another two when I get my hitai-ate."

"Cool. My mom only taught me our scent enhancement and dynamic marking techniques," Kiba added, "But she said that she'll teach me a really cool Inuzuka move when I become a genin!"

"Damn, my dad only taught me the Body Switch Technique," Ino pouted, and then saw the look on Sakura's face, "Don't look at me like that, Forehead! I'm still a clan heiress, so I have to learn some of my family techniques."

"As touching as this talk is," Iruka interrupted sternly, glaring at Naruto until he turned quiet again, "You two are both in trouble, and will be placed in detention for the rest of the day. Sasuke, I will be discussing your behavior with your Gaurdian, and as for you, Naruto-"

"Naomi will be picking me up after school!" Naruto hurriedly said, "You can talk to her then, right sensei?"

Iruka seemed to consider that for a moment, "Yes… I think I should have a talk with your new cousin. Until then, both of you follow me."

Naruto fell silent, and anxiously followed his teacher. Now that the adrenaline of the fight had faded, Naruto blanched at the implications of what he had done? How the hell could he have been so stupid to pick a fight just a day after Naomi adopted him? And even though he had only learned a little about his heritage yesterday… why was Naruto so overcome with anger to be so hurtful towards Sasuke? Was it because that these weren't nameless, faceless strangers who were cut down, but his own flesh and blood from long ago? He had never met any of them, but if he had, they would have been his uncles or aunts or grandparents or cousins.

In a moment of epiphany, Naruto looked at the brooding boy walking next to him with sadness. Sasuke and Naruto used to have reverse fortunes, before they became the only two orphans in their class, and now once again, their fortunes changed. Naruto had once felt a kinship with the boy because of their shared circumstances. Only now he had Naomi, and Sasuke still had no one. Yet the feeling of kinship only grew stronger; Naruto, too, had lost his Clan, although like he had not so tactfully told to Sasuke, his Clan wasn't wiped out overnight… it was systematically massacred over several days.

He considered opening his mouth and speaking to Sasuke, but in spite of his normally impulsive nature, he refrained. He wouldn't have liked it if a person with family had come to preach to him when he was orphan, and if he would have been mad, than heaven knows how the drama queen that is Sasuke Uchiha would act.

His decision made, Naruto quietly sat down in the seat Iruka offered him outside of the principal's office. Naruto knew that he had crossed a line today, and he was willing to take his punishment. He just hoped that Naomi wouldn't be too disappointed in him.

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Naomi actually had filed the report to the civilian council, just as she had told Naruto, but the bulk of her morning mainly consisted of making a record of her memories for the Hokage. She was trying to make them as detailed as possible, since the least conspicuous fact might just be the one to end up saving Konoha. Naomi was lucky that her Sage training allowed her such quick and accurate recall; despite having a good twenty or so years to cover, she managed to finish it all before lunch. She decided to drop the scroll over at the Tower (and promise jiji that she would arrive for dinner on time), before taking to wandering the streets.

Her mind drifting lazily, Naomi allowed her feet to walk her to her former training grounds. The memorial stone still stood proudly against the sky, each inscribed named glinting dully in the light. A tall, lean figure with a spiky shock of silver-white hair stood in front of the stone.

Kakashi! Naomi thought excitedly, before remembering that her quasi-brother figure had never met her before… he didn't even know that she existed.

_***** 'Maa maa, don't be such a stick in the mud, Naomi!' he wheedled, 'You're old enough to start enjoying the art-'**_

_**'Not a chance, you hentai freak,' she retorted, 'You're as bad as Ero-Sennin… and besides, I don't need a book to get sexual gratification."**_

_**'Too much information! As your honorary older brother, I'm duty-bound to go and try to beat up Tobirama if you tell me that. And let's face it, he'll just kick my ass.' *****_

She averted her eyes away from the masked face, and walked up to the memorial stone. Bending down on her knees, she looked towards the very bottom of the stone, where all of the names of the Hokages would be, symbolizing the foundation of their village's sacrifice. Naomi reached out a finger and traced a very familiar name on the stone. Tobirama Senju.

The man who was infuriatingly calm, sensible, and pragmatic, even in the very heat of battle. The man who ruthlessly tried to kill her when he found that she was in contact with the Kyuubi… and then, the man who held her in his arms when she sobbed at the loss of Kurama. The man who stood beside her bedside for months when she was nearly catatonic. The man who ironically warned his brother for falling in love with an Uzumaki- a jinchuuriki- and then went and did the very same thing himself. The man who stole a strand of her hair and immortalized it in ice.

Naomi didn't think that she had fallen in love with Tobirama, or at least, not in that same hopeless, irrational deep longing that she had held for him, with a love that was really closer to an obsession than anything else. Tobirama wasn't a craving; her affection for him was warm and genuine, not touched by the ravages of blood and sacrifice- and oh kami, was she an idiot- and weakness. He was safe and kind and 'what should have been'.

Kurama was everything she had feared and hated and hoped for… someone who would never, could never, abandon her.

"Are you okay?" a carefully nonchalant voice interrupted her repetitive tracing. Naomi looked up at her fellow mourner, suddenly realizing the warm traces of tears falling down her cheeks.

"No," she responded, tired, as she stood up, "I apologize for my disturbance, Hatake-san."

The man fidgeted slightly, internally disconcerted by the familiar intense sea-green of her eyes. "Ah… it is no problem… shinobi-san?"

"Naomi Uzumaki," the girl introduced herself, her long familiarity with the man in front of her (though he did not know it yet) helping her catch the startled crinkle of his free eye.

"Are you new to Konoha, Uzumaki-san?" Kakashi responded, his free eye running over her face hungrily. He tried to give her a careless eye-smile, but the surprise of her introduction made it slightly more stiff than usual.

"You could say that," she said, enigmatically, as a smile played at the edges of her lips, "It is nice to meet you, Hatake-san."

"Please call me, Kakashi," the famous jounin said immediately, an edge of something akin to desperation lining his voice, "Are you staying here for very long?"

"Hai, I'll most likely stay in the village for several more months before I return to taking missions," Naomi answered, "And if I am to call you Kakashi, than I insist that you call me Naomi."

"I'll do that," he replied, nodding at her, "Naomi, if you intend to stay at the village for a while than perhaps we can meet up for a meal sometime-"

"My, my Kakashi, you are certainly are very forward," Naomi teased, her eyes twinkling in suppressed humor as the red faced jounin hastily backtracked, "It's alright. I know you were simply trying to be friendly. How does dinner at my place sound? I have a previous arrangement for tonight, but my charge and I will be free tomorrow."

"That would be fine, Naomi," Kakashi said, "You mentioned that you have a charge…?"

"My cousin, Naruto," the woman replied, stunning Kakashi for the second time today. She gave him an impish smile, "Speaking of Naruto, I really should get around to picking him up from school. Good bye, Kakashi!"

She Shunshined out of his sight, and rested her back against the broad side of a tree a few meters away as she spied on him. Kakashi stood there, stunned for a moment, before he Shunshined away as well. Naomi would bet a week's worth of ramen that he was at the Sandaime's office now, grilling her pseudo-grandfather for details.

Her good cheer returned, Naomi proceeded to make her way to the Academy. It really was time for her to pick Naruto up anyway.


	7. Chapter 7

Umino Iruka regarded the young woman in front of him with no small amount of suspicion. At least part of his suspicion was because Uzumaki Naruto- Konoha's loudmouthed orange prankster- had somehow managed to squirrel his way into Iruka's heart, and Iruka was by nature an extremely protective mother hen when it came to those he cared for. The other part was because his shinobi skills were practically screaming 'DANGER' at him just from standing near this slender, delicate-looking blonde woman.

Uzumaki Naomi did have more than a passing resemblance to his favorite student, Iruka thought, unhappily, and she was clearly an experienced kunoichi judging by her pleasant smile and wary demeanor. She had also gained Naruto's approval, from the way the blonde boy had tackled her when she came into the room.

"Hello sensei," Naomi broke their self-imposed silence first, "My name's Naomi Uzumaki."

"Iruka Umino," the Academy teacher replied, stiffly, relaxing somewhat when he saw the young woman fondly ruffle his student's spiky hair, "I wanted to discuss Naruto's new living arrangements with you, as well as his punishment for getting involved in a fight today."

"Naruto was involved in a fight?" she questioned, turning her sharp sea-green eyes to a suddenly meek boy.

"Hai," Iruka replied, noting with approval that her eyes briefly skimmed over Naruto's body in search of any obvious injuries, "One of my other student, Sasuke Uchiha, said some hurtful things about Naruto's Clan, and then Naruto responded in kind. Sasuke may have provoked the verbal and physical attacks, but Naruto in also at fault for rising to the taunts. I believe that a detention is necessary at this point."

"And the Uchiha? What will he be getting?" Naomi asked, her eyes narrowing.

"Sasuke will also be punished," Iruka assured her, "He will receive three detentions, as well as an official demerit on his ninja profile should he graduate for an unprovoked assault on an allied clan."

"That does sound fair," Naomi admitted grudgingly, "What exactly did the two boys say to one another?"

"Ah, Sasuke insulted Naruto by claiming that his Clan was massacred because it was weak, and Naruto replied by saying that his Clan, at least, wasn't destroyed by one of their own," Iruka explained. Naomi stilled, and turned her eyes to the ashamed blond.

"I can see that you're sorry for what you said, so I won't add any additional punishment to what Iruka gave you," Naomi informed him, "But when we get home, we will speak about this."

"Hai," Naruto muttered softly, still embarrassed. He blinked his eyes quickly as he felt tears rise up. Naruto didn't want his new family member to hate him right after she just adopted him, but now he was stupid, and got into a fight, and Naomi would end up leaving him because she was disgusted by-

"Naruto, I'm not blaming you for what happened," the older blonde interrupted his internal monologue by grabbing his chin gently and lifting it up so she could look into his eyes, "You defended your Clan's honor- if not properly- and I'm proud of you for that."

"Thanks Naomi," Naruto replied, the burden on his shoulders' easing as he realized that she wasn't about to leave him.

"There's one other matter that I would like to discuss with you though," Iruka added. His tone became slightly more friendly once he saw the obvious affection the two cousins had for one another. "Naruto is one of my students, and therefore, I care about his wellbeing. I was surprised to learn that a cousin of his had resurfaced and recently adopted him. Can you please explain your interest and intentions regarding him?"

Naruto looked surprised by the admission of another person who cared about him, and beamed at his sensei.

"Naruto's a member of my family, and that's the reason I adopted him," Naomi said, and then decided to elaborate when she saw Naruto's face. Clearly, her counterpart in this world was closer to Iruka than she herself had been, since she had only interacted with him for a few short months before Kakashi swooped in and took her, "I had recently returned from a long-term S-rank mission, when Hokage-sama told me about the existence of my cousin. I decided that I wanted to meet him and get to know him a little bit since he's the only family I have alive now. The Hokage was kind enough to allow me to adopt him yesterday."

"I see," Iruka said, slowly, "Well, if you truly do care for him- and I can see that you do- than I believe that this would be best for Naruto. May I ask where you're living right now?"

"We're living in the Senju Compound," Naruto piped up, "It's awesome, Iruka-sensei! We got new furniture and everything! My room is painted orange, and I have a clock that shaped like a frog. And there are a bunch of trees outside, and they're full of the Shodaime's chakra!"

"You're living in the Senju Compound?" Iruka parroted, looking at Naruto with more than a little disbelief.

"My husband was a Senju," Naomi responded to his silent question, "I'm pregnant with his child, and the baby's chakra, mingled with my own, was enough to open the Compound gates."

"That's very surprising, Naomi-san. I am sorry for your loss," Iruka finally said, before he brightened, "Still, a Senju will be born to Konoha once more. That is very pleasant news."

Naomi accepted his condolences with a graceful bend of her head, before they exchanged a few more pleasantries. Finally, Naomi and Naruto said goodbye to the kind sensei, and the young woman Shunshined the two out.

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"That's really cool, Naomi," Naruto expressed, once he had gotten over the initial disorientation that the Shunshin brought, "Will you teach me that?" They were standing in front of the doors of the Hokage's manor. It was a grand two-story mansion made of white stone and with a door of solid, polished oak.

"Maybe later, Naruto," Naomi responded, raising a hand to knock on the door, "Now, we promised to have dinner with jiji today, which is the only reason why we're not discussing your fight today. However, we will still talk about it later."

Naruto's excitement subsided a little as he nodded and the door opened to them. The man who had opened the door was tall and broad-shouldered, with thick, dark hair brushing against his neck, a well-trimmed beard, and piercing dark eyes.

"Hello, you two must be our guests," Asuma Sarutobi said, looking both of them over briefly. His eyes lingered for a few seconds longer on Naomi than Naruto, but the gaze was more reminiscent of a skilled shinobi assessing a stranger than a confident man acknowledging the beauty of a woman. "I'm Asuma, the Sandaime's son."

"Jiji has a son," Naruto expressed with shock, "I never knew that!"

"I've had two actually, Naruto-kun," the old man walked up behind his son, and chuckled at the boy's surprise, "My older son and his wife had died recently though. I live here now with my son, Asuma, and my grandson, Konohamaru."

"Oh, I'm sorry old man," Naruto looked stricken at the possibility that he may have brought up bad memories for the Sandaime, "I didn't mean to say that- honest!"

"It's fine Naruto," Hiruzen Sarutobi waved the gesture away with a kind smile, and invited them in, "I am glad that you have been able to make it to this meal."

"We are happy to be here," Naomi replied, slipping her sandals off her feet at the side of the door, and presenting her host with a small gift of sweets as was appropriate, "You have a beautiful home."

They exchanged societal niceties for a little longer, with Naruto awkwardly fidgeting by her side (Naomi reminded herself that she would have to teach him some manners soon), before the Hokage finally led her into their large dining room. She was surprised to find that they would not be eating here, but instead led through a side door and into a large, warmly lit kitchen. The small table present there was loaded with large platters heaped with delicious food.

The subtle gesture of welcome and acceptance the Hokage offered by bringing them here warmed Naomi's heart.

"Please take a seat," Hiruzen said, politely waiting until both Naomi and Naruto had taken a seat before sitting down himself, "I apologize for my grandson's tardiness. He should be here soon."

"No problem, old man," Naruto assured, making Naomi inwardly snicker at Asuma's shocked face, "So do you always eat like this? Because if you do, than I can see why you're getting fat. Sitting in your office doing paperwork all day probably doesn't help either."

Naomi gracefully bit her lip to keep from smiling. Asuma not-so-gracefully closed his open mouth.

"I'd actually ordered this for your sake Naruto," the Hokage paused, "But if you think the meal is too heavy…"

"Huh? No way, old man! I can take it!" Naruto hurriedly assured him, before his meal could be taken away.

"Jiji, who are these people?" a younger male voice asked, as a short, brown haired boy walked into the room. Konohamaru Sarutobi was a round-faced boy with a short-sleeved yellow shirt, navy shorts, and a long, blue scarf. It was hard for Naomi to see him and compare him to her thoughtful, laidback former second-in-command.

"These are the guests that I told you Konohamaru," Hiruzen reminded the boy with a displeased frown.

"Sorry jiji," Konohamaru was momentarily admonished, before he grinned, "I was training so I could take over your job soon!" Naruto perked up at seeing a potential rival for the Hokage's job.

"Cool. What were you doing?" the blonde asked.

Konohamaru puffed up his chest, "My tutor was teaching me some super-powerful shortcuts to get stronger. With them, I'll get the position in no time at all!"

"What!?" Naruto burst out, incensed, "You can't just get to the Hokage's job through shortcuts, midget. It takes hard work to be the best. And I'm the one who's going to be Hokage."

"Ha! Says you," Konohamaru retorted, "You just don't know any of the shortcuts so you're making yourself feel better by saying that. I bet you're a big weakling!"

"Wanna say that again, pipsqueak?" Naruto growled, jumping out of his seat, and lifting the younger boy into the air by his shirt, "I could beat you any time of the day!"

"I'd like to see you try," Konohamaru jeered, "You'll just get into trouble if you try that. I'm the Honorable Grandson, you know!" The older boy wasn't impressed, as he roughly dropped Konohamaru onto the floor. Before the boy could make a move to get up, Naruto cuffed him harshly over the head.

"Who cares if you're the Hokage's grandson or not?" Naruto scoffed, "I wouldn't care if you were his grandmother. As far as I'm concerned, you're just an annoying brat!"

There were several different emotions among the adults. Hiruzen appeared to be amused, Naomi interested, and Asuma curious, as the two boys glared at each other.

"Well, this looks like the beginning of a beautiful friendship!" Naomi announced pleasantly, ignoring Asuma's disbelief.

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"So, you have a wind mastery, Naomi-san?" Asuma asked, interested, "That's wonderful! I thought that I was the only one in the village with that element."

"It's a rare element outside of Fire Country," Naomi agreed, "Naruto is actually a wind user as well. I plan to teach him elemental manipulation after he graduates to a genin."

"I'll be glad to help you then, if you'd like," Asuma offered, "It would be good for Konoha to gain another Wind Master."

Said boy was currently dozing on one of the living room couches, while Konohamaru had been moved to his room. It had taken a few minutes for the adults to establish peace between the two, but Naomi's prediction didn't seem to be that far off the mark. The younger boy had already developed a bit of hero worship for the older one. The three currently awake members of the dinner had excused themselves to the living room to enjoy some after-dinner sake.

"You've never mentioned what you did before arriving to Konoha, Naomi-san?" Asuma asked. Naomi repeated the oft-told background story to an attentive group of Sarutobi, and received a sympathetic nod from Asuma for her troubles.

"I'm surprised that the Senju Compound opened for you even if you were pregnant with a Senju child," Asuma remarked, "Fetuses usually don't produce that much chakra, and any chakra that they do emit it often muffled by the mother's."

Naomi acknowledged the relevant point with a nod. "I was surprised as well, since I fully expected to be at the gates for a few hours channeling in chakra until enough wisps of energy from the fetus opened the door," she added, "That only holds true for normal blue chakra though. The chakra that my baby emitted was the denser, nature-type… Mokuton."

The word meant nothing for the dozing boy on the couch, but both the Hokage and his jounin-level son made an abrupt gesture of surprise. The glass of rice wine held by Asuma nearly slipped past his grip. The Sandaime quickly masked his excitement, as Asuma looked at Naomi's pleased smile with an awed face.

"Mokuton?" Asuma repeated hollowly, tone shifting into a strong level of excitement, "Are you positive? Mokuton?"

Though the ninja forces of the village did not hold the Shodaime's kekkei genkai to the same level of godlike awe that the civilians did, there was still a very healthy amount of respect and admiration for a holder of the Mokuton. The Shodaime used to be the only shinobi who had (naturally) developed the Mokuton, and now Konoha would be receiving a second one. The Sandaime was a little more reserved than his son, but he also leaned in closer and focused his gaze on the woman.

"I'm positive," she affirmed, to their delight, "It was green-gold chakra that started burning my skin if I used it for too long. That's definitely the Mokuton."

"This news is almost on par with Naruto's father's lineage," Hiruzen said, looking at his son sharply, "It is not to be mentioned past these walls. I don't want to know what extents the other villages would go to in order to gain or assassinate a Senju child with the Mokuton."

Naomi and Asuma both nodded in understanding of his concern, with the blonde woman nervously placing a protective hand on her stomach. Hiruzen pushed away his worry for a minute, and gave Naomi a large smile.

"Congratulations," he told her, with genuine warmth, "This is wonderful news. I'll have to tell the Council of Elders and Danzo tomorrow, but I think that everyone else can be kept under wraps. If it becomes necessary, we can even reveal this to the Council to cement your position of Regency within the Senju Clan."

Naomi nodded to the older man in thanks, "We might have to reveal everything when the baby is born though. Hashirama told me a little of his own birth and childhood, and apparently he had been growing trees from as little as several months old. I think that my baby will be doing it even earlier though, with the Uzumaki reserves."

"We'll make sure to take that into account," Hiruzen assured, as Asuma leaned back and marvelled.

"A Senju with the Mokuton," Asuma said, shaking his head, "Damn. A Senju with the Mokuton."

"Yes, I think we've established that," Hiruzen said wryly, allowing his son a few more moments of delight. His reaction was actually quite tame to what the Sandaime Hokage imagined the rest of the village's populace might react once they learned of this news. He wouldn't be surprised if they demanded that the baby's birth be marked with a village holiday. A Senju with the Mokuton indeed.

"There was one more thing that I wanted to discuss with you though, jiji," Naomi added, taking a small sip of the sharply sweet alcohol, "I would like to have your permission to take Naruto out of the Academy for a few months."

"Why?" the Sandaime asked simply, reverting back to his serious nature as the excitement of Naomi's child's kekkei genkai waned. "I thought that Naruto-kun was happy at the Academy."

"He is," Naomi allowed, "But his lessons have been so badly neglected at the formative years that even Iruka-sensei's attentive tutoring won't be enough to bring him up to the level of his peers. Iruka has to take care of a class of students after all, whereas I will be free for the coming months until I give birth, and I am uniquely situated to teach Naruto. I will be able to properly hone his natural Uzumaki gifts while also- with the copious use of Kage Bunshin- teach him the basics."

"I wouldn't want Naruto to grow distant from his peers though," Hiruzen pointed out.

"Just because he won't be attending classes doesn't mean he'll be isolated from the rest of the village, jiji," Naomi argued, "I intend to form closer relationships with the other clans after the Council meeting to establish the Uzumaki Clan. He can invite his friends over or hang around the village when he's not training. This will also allow me to form a closer relationship to him before our tentative balance is disrupted by the birth of my child. Naruto seems excited at the prospect of being an older brother now, but he may come to feel uncertain over his own position and resent the child later on."

She hesitated, and then added, "It will also remove him from some… undesirable influences."

"What do you mean by that, Naomi-chan?" Hiruzen asked, keeping his voice neutral.

"There are many civilian students there who distrust or dislike Naruto because of what their parents had told them," Naomi paused, to recollect her scattered thoughts, "There are also- for lack of better word- fangirls everywhere in his class. I'm afraid that with no readily available interaction with a confident and skilled female peer, Naruto will develop an undesirable and potentially dangerous habit of dismissing his opponents due to their gender. He's besotted with one of the biggest fangirls of them all, some girl named Sakura Haruno, who- despite her retired ninja parents- had a strictly civilian life. She is not a healthy option for potential love interest, and I find her physical abuse of my son to be unacceptable."

Naomi paused once more and took a deep breath, "I especially don't want him around Sasuke Uchiha, jiji. That boy is mentally unstable, psychotic, and a huge screw-up just waiting to happen." She gave him a pointed look, "I can't accept Naruto being dragged down by that boy. He's dangerous."

"He's also just an Academy student," Asuma interjected, dryly. Naomi shook her head, sending her long, silken locks flying.

"For now," she countered, "You know how Naruto is about his precious people, jiji. Should he be allowed to form a relationship of any sorts with that boy, then he'll go through heaven and hell for him. And Sasuke Uchiha does not deserve that kind of loyalty."

"Perhaps Naruto could help him form a stronger connection to the village," Hiruzen said softly, looking at the woman.

"That's not fair, jiji," Naomi said hoarsely, tears drawing up in her eyes, "It didn't work before, and it won't work now. Naruto shouldn't be put through this, only to have his heart and spirit crushed by a boy who's still chasing after the ghosts of the past. He's sacrificed enough for this village, jiji. It's not fair."

Asuma got the distinct impression that they were no longer discussing Naruto, and wisely kept his mouth shut.

The Sandaime's face was briefly overshadowed by regret for what had happened and yet, technically, had never occurred, and gave her an assenting nod, "Very well. You make take Naruto out of school for the remainder of the year until the day of the genin exams. Have you planned what you will be teaching him?"

Naomi nodded, and smiled at him thankfully, "I want to teach him the basics of fuuinjutsu and the Uzumaki Five, which is the first half of a group of basic techniques taught to all Uzumaki shinobi. I'll also teach him the Academy Three, the Chunin Eight, the Shunshin, and genjutsu displacement. He'll be taught the First through Fourth forms of the Uzumaki Nine-Form taijutsu, and I'll test him for our chakra chains. If I have enough time than I'll also introduce him to kenjutsu."

She paused, and gave them a slightly sad smile, "He'll also be taught about our Clan's history. We've done too much for this village to be forgotten now."

"That's a very ambitious plan," Hiruzen noted, placing a comforting arm on the girl's shoulder, "I am confident that Naruto will exceed all of my expectations."

"Or die trying," Asuma added once he saw the determined glint appearing in Naomi's eye.


	8. Chapter 8

Naruto warily fidgeted in his seat as Naomi regarded him with a forced coolness. She didn't appear to be in the best of moods right now, but Naruto guessed that if was woken up by a pressing need to throw up in the morning, than he would be annoyed too. Still, her bad mood wasn't very helpful for him, since he was supposed to get a lecture about his behavior.

The older blonde placed a delicate cup of green tea back on its' saucer, and began to talk. "I want to establish at the very beginning that what you did yesterday was wrong. Do you want to tell me why?"

"I brought up his clan's massacre," Naruto recalled, embarrassed, "And I- ah- said that his clan was weak since it was destroyed by a traitor."

Naomi cupped her hands over the warm tea. "Naruto, do you know who massacred the clan?" she ventured.

The boy's eyes widened, as he vigorously shook his head, "No! Who was it?"

"It was Itachi Uchiha," Naomi explained, pausing and giving Naruto a serious look that implied that this was strictly need-to-know, "He was Sasuke's older brother."

Naruto's eyes- if possible- widened even further, and a dull red flush crept up his cheeks. "Oh," he said softly, "I didn't mean- I didn't know-"

"If you had, I would have grounded you for a month," Naomi admitted, "However, since you didn't know, and Sasuke initiated the fight with an equally hurtful comment, I will allow Iruka's punishment to end the matter."

Naruto sighed imperceptibly, but the older blonde wasn't finished yet.

"There is still the matter of your terrible defense of our family's honor," Naomi said sternly, making Naruto tense up again, "You still need to be punished for that, so… your punishment will be to attend as many lessons as necessary to either learn how to dodge the Uchiha's attack to take him down quickly."

Naruto started grinning now at the additional 'punishment', which made Naomi sigh in mock-disappointment.

"This brings us to another matter of great importance," Naomi added, "I would like to take you out of the Academy for the remainder of the year."

"But how will I be a ninja then?" Naruto said, looking stricken.

She smiled at him, reassuringly. "I will be giving you private lessons Naruto. You will still take the genin exams with the rest of your peers."

"Private lessons?" Naruto perked up a bit, "That would be cool… but I don't want to leave my friends."

"You can invite your friends over to the Compound," she pressed, "I'll be glad for the chance to get to meet your classmates. I'll also be able to take a greater interest in your training, and teach you some of the Uzumaki techniques."

Naruto still looked uncertain. "Well… can we invite Iruka-sensei?"

"I think we can convince him to drop by for dinner every now and then," she offered, "What do you think, then? If you want to be homeschooled, than we can begin tomorrow."

"Okay," Naruto said readily, happy for the chance to receive advanced tuition from his only family member, "Can we invite Sakura-chan over?"

"Sakura-chan?" Naomi feigned surprise, "Oh, so who is this Sakura-chan I hear about? I thought I was the only woman in your life, Naruto-kun."

"Huh? No, you're important too!" Naruto hastily assured her, flushing a deep pink, "Sakura-chan is just my friend."

"So do you refer to all of your friends with the -chan suffix?" Naomi inquired innocently.

"Well- I mean- she's really pretty," Naruto stammered, "And her hair is pink-"

"Naruto, do you have a crush on her?" the woman asked intently, sea-green eyes flashing.

"Um… kind of," he answered, firmly intent on the fascinating shape of his feet, and thus ignorant of Naomi's sudden grimace.

"I think you should give up on that," Naomi said kindly. Her younger counterpart suddenly looked up, his shyness countered by rising anger.

"What? Why would I do that?" he asked, indignantly, "I like Sakura-chan!"

"I think we'll have to have an impromptu Uzumaki biology lesson," Naomi chuckled, much to the boy's confusion and ire, "Naruto, what do you know about fetuses?"

"Huh?" Naruto asked, looking adorably clueless.

"I'll take that as 'nothing at all'," Naomi said lightly, "Well a fetus is another name for a baby when he or she is inside the mother's womb." She grabbed Naruto's hand and placed it on the faintly protruding bulge of muscle below her stomach. Naruto looked torn between terror- he was clearly ready to bolt at any second- and fascination as he gently poked the skin

"Fetuses are normally unable to develop their chakra pathways until they are at least 28 weeks old. Now, this child is clearly only a few months old- perhaps 12 or 13 weeks- but he or she has already developed his or her chakra pathways," Naomi explained, "This is because of the Uzumaki genes which lead the baby to develop the chakra pathways early on now, so he or she could have large chakra reserves later on."

She paused, and made sure that he was following along. At her questioning look, Naruto nodded, and let her continue.

"Even with their chakra pathways though, most babies require additional chakra from their mother," this was where she paused and fondly patted her stomach, "Uzumaki babies require a lot of chakra, and frankly, it is usually considered a requirement for an Uzumaki's significant other to have above-average chakra reserves, especially if it is a female who will be carrying the child. Even with those reserves though, it is occasionally necessary for an Uzumaki with very large chakra reserves- such as you- to authorize chakra transfusions from medical professionals for the baby. There is a limit to how many transfusions you can have though, since too many additions from a 'foreign' chakra source will have a negative impact on the baby's development."

"I know that you're too young to consider this," she continued, "But you're the heir of the soon-to-be established Uzumaki Clan, and right now, only two- maybe three if we count Tsunade Senju- os us. You need to have children one day, and that's why I want you to keep this in mind before your crush turns into something deeper.

"So if I marry Sakura, I can't have any children?" Naruto said in a small voice, his anger abetting.

"Not without significant danger for both Sakura and the baby," Naomi answered truthfully, "I'm sorry Naruto."

"No, I'm glad that you told me," Naruto said, smiling weakly, "I'm glad that I know about this early on. Can I still be friends with her?"

"I'd rather you kill her," Naomi thought darkly, before she offered Naruto a flimsy smile. It was still too early for Naomi to risk her fledgling relationship with Naruto, and over Sakura Haruno of all people. "That will be acceptable."

"Who knows?" Naomi thought, optimistically, "Maybe if I seperate them for a few months and teach Naruto about the basic rules of common decency, that he will find a less abusive option for a girlfriend."

Not that any girl was good enough for her sochi, but she was sure that some girl would come close.

"Thanks for breakfest, Naomi," Naruto smiled, and placed his empty bowl and utensils into the sink, "I should head to school now."

"Okay," she assented. The sad smile he offered made Naomi stand up and draw the boy into a hug, "Have a nice day, Naruto."

"Thanks ka- Naomi," Naruto repeated, returning the hug. The slender, blonde woman grinned as she caught his near-slip and then let him go.

"We have dinner with Kakashi Hatake tonight," Naomi called out, as he grabbed his bag and walked out the door, "Come home straight after your detention. Don't forget!"

"I won't," Naruto called back, giving her a wave. She stood there, one hand against the door frame, as he walked past the Clan gates and into outside world.

She turned back around, feeling melancholy and somewhat old, as she walked back to a house that suddenly seemed far too large and far too cold. With a grimace at the sight of the still fairly messy grounds, Naomi used a single hand seal to form her signature jutsu, Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. She had work to do.

_***** Flashback Begins *****_

_**"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" she was forming a new combination attack with the help of her favorite and most versatile jutsu.**_

_**"You really like using that jutsu," a second voice remarked, as the tall, imposing form of the Nidaime Hokage walked into the clearing, "I admit, I'd never considered all of those different uses for the Kage Bunshin when I first created that jutsu**_

_**She glared at him. "Here to try and kill me again? Tough luck, since I already told Tsunade that I was training here."**_

_**"I fail to see what my grandniece has to do with anything," he replied, looking amused. "Not to mention that I have already apologized to you for my mistake. This petty grudge of yours is unnecessary."**_

_**"You nearly killed me!" Tobirama's smile widened, unrepentant.**_

_**"And once again, I extend my sincerest apologies," the Nidaime Hokage gave her a smile so fake that even Sai would find difficulty in trying to copy it.**_

_**"Bastard," Naomi hissed, clenching her hands.**_

_**"I take offense to that," Tobirama said mildly, "I have it on good authority that not only were my parents married at the time of my birth, but that they also loved one another. They were lucky, I think, since love was considered to be extravagant at that time."**_

_**"I don't like you," Naomi informed him, abruptly turning away. Damnit, she could practically feel the smirk pulling at his lips.**_

_**"So I've seen," Tobirama's voice was bland. "Nevertheless, it… comforts me that your favorite jutsu is one of my own creations."**_

_**At her confused face, he smiled pleasantly. "Perhaps its' usefulness will keep you alive in spite of your sheer idiocy."**_

_**With a slightly unnatural growl, Naomi threw a kunai at the insufferably smug Hokage. It was a perfect shot at his family jewels, but gave her little comfort since the Mizu Bunshin just burst into a puddle of water.**_

_***** End Flashback *****_

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"Your guardian wants to take you out of school for private lessons," Iruka said flatly. Yeah, it sounded as bad the second time as it did the first.

Naruto looked uncomfortable. "I thought that this was normal with clan kids?" Iruka chose not to question him on HOW he knew that (since Naruto typically avoided anything that was associated with the term 'family') since he was more concerned with the WHY. He was right that every now and then, a student would be pulled out of school for some family training by his or her clan, but those absences usually lasted for a week or two. Naruto was requesting seven MONTHS leave. Said student proceeded to smile at him hopefully.

"Maybe you can come by our new place for dinner sometime, Iruka-sensei!" Naruto babbled, "Naomi makes the best ramen ever; it's even better than Ichiraku's! And our house is pretty school, and we have huge gardens. We have a greenhouse too! Naomi said we can plant flowers and medical herbs too. I hope-"

"Naruto," Iruka interrupted, affectionately carding his fingers through Naruto's spiky hair, "Why does your cousin want to take you out of the Academy program?"

"She says she wants to help me learn my family moves," Naruto bounced on the balls of his feet, "It'll be so cool, sensei! I'll be better than tem- Sasuke in no time." Iruka mentally noted that Naruto had paused halfway into his insult, before referring to his self-proclaimed rival by name.

"Then I guess I'll just have to come over for dinner often, if I want to see my favorite student," Iruka finally said, making Naruto whoop in joy once he realized that he had been given permission, "But i expect you to improve, alright?"

"I promise I will, sensei," Naruto said, earnestly, "I know that Naomi will be spending a lot of time teaching me how to be a great shinobi, and I'll do my best to make her- and you- proud."

"I'm already proud of you, Naruto. You'll become a fine shinobi." His kind comment was rewarded with a bright, tremulous smile.

"Now get to your seat!" Iruka ordered, as the rest of the students came filtering into the room. Naruto responded with a mock official salute, before turning around and- hesitating? The appearance of the aloof Sasuke Uchiha gave him a second's pause, before Naruto squared his shoulders and took a step forward.

"Sasuke-san," Naruto said, catching the cold boy's attention. The blonde boy made a clumsy attempt at what could be constituted as a bow, if one wished to be charitable about it. "I- I'm sorry about what I said yesterday. My comments were out of line."

The other students paused, and watched the interaction with obvious interest. Naruto, the loudmouthed prankster with no manners, was apologizing? To Sasuke Uchiha, his class rival? The dark haired boy made no move towards acknowledging the apology, and his face gave nothing away to what he really felt. Just as the student's began to believe that he would reject Naruto's apology, and a few of the more vocal fangirls got ready to jeer at the boy, Sasuke gave a small, yet unmistakable, nod.

"I apologize for my actions as well," Sasuke's soft-spoken words carried in the sudden death-silence of the room, "I misspoke due to my anger." Though there was no bow following the words, Naruto seemed willing to accept Sasuke's apology and grinned at him in relief. The orange and white clad boy- today's outfit featured a properly stitched Senju crest along with the customary Uzumaki spiral- bound his way across the floor and plopped into a seat next to Shikamaru.

For the rest of the class, Naruto proceeded to unnerve his fellow students by obediently paying attention to Iruka's lecture and carefully taking notes. His attentiveness was proven to be real once he raised his hand and even answered a few of their sensei's questions.

"What's going on with you, troublesome boy?" Shikamaru was finally led to demand in a whisper, "... You are Uzumaki Naruto, right?"

"What are you talking about, Shika?" Naruto looked genuinely confused.

""You're listening to sensei," Kiba pointed out, worriedly, "You're not sick, are you?"

Naruto's puzzlement turned to annoyance. "Hey, I can be a good student if I want to! Besides, this interests me."

"Since when are you interested in the Shodaime?" Choji asked, not wholly unkindly as he expressed the similar thoughts held by the three boys.

"Since I started living in his house," Naruto replied, giving him a discrete shrug, "Hey, you know that broken kusarigama that Iruka-sensei just mentioned? The Shodaime won it by defeating the Mizukage in battle. It's hung on the wall of my living room."

"Seriously?" Kiba looked suitably impressed, "That's really cool man. What does it look like?"

"You can come over to my house and check it out?" Naruto offered, "There's still a bit of dried blood from where it pierced the enemy's stomach."

Kiba accepted the invitation gleefully, much to Naruto's gratification. He was understandably excited since he had never invited a friend to his home before. Shikamaru took the opportunity presented there, and invited Naruto over to his own home. Though the Nara Clan usually stayed out of village politics (it was way too troublesome), the possibility of a Senju heir, even a prospective one since the child had yet to be born, was enough to drastically change the political landscape. Add in the rumours of a new Clan…

Suffice to say, Shikaku Nara had explicitly told his son that Naruto was to be invited over. Preferably with his cousin, the woman who had become the Senju Regent.

Kiba had unknowingly put his Clan's foot in the door, so to speak, by getting himself invited over to the Senju Compound- the first of their peers to do so- but Shikamaru didn't intend to be far behind. Besides, he liked Naruto even if the boy was more than a little troublesome.

"Sorry Shikamaru, but Naomi invited some guy named Kakashi Hatake over for dinner," Naruto said, apologetic, "I'll ask her if we can visit you guys soon, though! I'm sure that Naomi will say yes."

"Another night then," Shikamaru replied, gracefully exiting the rejection, while still securing a promise for the future. He turned his attention back to the classroom, even as his genius mind encoded the novel information.

The Uzumaki/Senju Clan, either directly or indirectly- and the three and a half minutes Shikamaru had spent with Naomi Uzumaki made him believe that she was shrewd enough for it to be directly- was implying a bond of friendship with the famous jounin. Kakashi Hatake. The Copycat Ninja. Sharingan no Kakashi. Kakashi of 1,000 Jutsus. The Yondaime's only surviving student. A distinguished ANBU Captain.

Shikamaru flicked his eyes back over to the blond. "Naruto, did you go out to other dinners or have anyone else over for dinner recently?" Shikamaru asked, curiously.

"Well, we went to Old Man Hokage's for dinner last night," Naruto answered, bemused, "But we haven't had anyone else over for dinner yet."

Shikamaru's mind raced. The first dinner they had outside of their Compound was with the distinguished Sandaime and his family. The first dinner they would host within their Compound was with a powerful but politically uninfluential ninja without a family. There was an implicit message there, but Shikamaru's mind was unable to decode it.

He was interrupted by Iruka's shouting. "KIBA! Stop distracting Naruto! He was starting to make a big improvement!"

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OMAKE

Iruka was about to wrap up the current class for lunch, when Naomi- in suitable Uzumaki flair- Shunshined into the class at the exact moment the bell rang and grabbed Naruto's hand.

"There you are, sochi!" she exclaimed, "Come on! There's something I have to show you." The young woman proceeded to hastily manhandle a still surprised Naruto out of the aisle and through the door. Since the bell had already rung, Iruka simply sighed and turned away to shuffle papers while Naruto's curious classmates followed.

Naomi dragged the younger blond down the hallway, opened the door to one of the empty classrooms (enrollment was low since it was a time of peace), led him in, and then slammed the door shut. The small group of stalkers- Kiba, Shino, Choji, Shikamaru (Ino had dragged him along), Ino, Sakura, and Sasuke (he thought that there might be a jutsu involved)- exchanged intrigued looks and placed their ears against the door. Their snooping was rewarded when they heard a small yelp, followed by a muffled and- there was no mistaking it- distinctly male moan.

The group hovered there for a second later, before they each scrambled away from the door and hurried down the hallway. Crouching behind the next turn in the path, they exchanged significant glances. Kiba was the first to break the silence.

"Lucky sod," Kiba said enviously.

"You perverted mutt!" Ino whisper-yelled, "We can't just leave Naruto in there! He's being molested! By an adult. He could be raped."

"So do we go in there and help him?" Choji asked, apprehensive, "I don't want Naruto to get raped."

"It's not rape if he's willing," Shikamaru pointed out, unnecessarily. The others looked at him oddly. "What? Did that sound like he was struggling to you?"

"No, Shikamaru has a point," Kiba said, softly, uncharacteristically serious, "If Naruto's doing this willingly, than he'll be really pissed off if we try to stop this. No, seriously guys, we should try to leave this alone. If he comes out looking unhappy, than we can tell Iruka-sensei or something, okay?"

"I don't know…" Sakura began uncertainly.

"It's not like we can stop her," Sasuke disagreed, reasonably, "She's a powerful jounin and we haven't even graduated yet." Instantly, Sakura's mouth shut and she beamed at the dark haired boy.

"Excellent idea, Sasuke!"

"Hnn."

"I repeat," Kiba said, "Lucky sod."

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Naruto threw back his head and gave another appreciative moan.

From her seat across the room, Naomi laughed. "Honestly Naruto, the ramen's not that good." He responded with a deeply indignant look.

"This is the best ramen ever!" he disagreed, jamming another chopstick full of the noodles into his mouth, "You're the best cook in Fire Country." He punctuated his point with another long, deep moan.

"I'm glad you like the new recipe then," Naomi answered, "I thought that combining beef, chicken, and ramen broth was a little risky, but I'm glad it worked out."

"Naomi," Naruto said firmly, looking into her intense sea-green eyes, "One day, I want to marry a woman just like you."

"You won't be able to find one as powerful as I am," Naomi said, matter-of-fact, "But don't worry. I'll lend you my recipe book." Naruto nodded in thanks, and then returned his eyes to the noodly love of his life.

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Naruto bounced back into his class, with a large grin on his face. He paused, puzzled by the weird reactions of his classmates. For his entire life, he would never know why Sasuke gave him a nod of respect, or why Choji sent him a thumb's up, or why Shikamaru patted him on the back. He would also never know why Kiba steered him to a corner, solemnly shook his hand, and told him that he- Naruto- was now Kiba's hero.


	9. Chapter 9

_**It was rage that fueled her power. Each of her most destructive jutsu, many A-ranked or S-ranked, were being thrown out with no considerations for chakra price or her surroundings. Blood-stained chakra chains ripped themselves out of her back, and began to fell the trees of the Shodaime indiscriminately. The skin of her knuckles had begun to tear from the overuse of Tsunade's taijutsu style, and one arm hung uselessly from her Rasenshuriken.**_

_**It could have been a minute or an hour, since time held no meaning for Naomi now, before her body flopped uselessly onto the muddy ground. The scenery around her for miles spoke of destruction: trenches of stone, scorched ground, and the cracked bark of the forest. The only person there was a slim young woman in tattered clothes of white and orange, who had begun to shiver from the light rain that splattered down on the ground. Her skin was marred by cuts and bruises that were slowly beginning to stitch themselves over; her hair, long, golden, and splattered with blood partially hid dull sea-green eyes. Light blue chakra danced across her skin, like small sparks of lightning waiting to shock her to life.**_

_**Another figure slowly walked up to the girl.**_

_**"Will you kill me?" she asked.**_

_**"No," he replied.**_

_**She stared up at the sky, listlessly. "...Why?"**_

_**"I'm too weak," he answered plainly.**_

_**"So am I," she said, "I couldn't kill myself."**_

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Kakashi Hatake looked at the gilt-edged invitation in his hand with something akin to fear, though he would never admit it had he been asked. The thick, creamy paper, written inside with fluid, dark orange ink, was addressed to Kakashi Hatake, Head of the Hatake Clan. Never mind that he was the only member left; Kakashi could barely even remember a time (before his father's disgrace…) when people actually remembered his Minor Clan status. Kakashi was not stupid. The expensive invitation, the offer for dinner- probably the first one since Naomi unofficially assumed the Regency (he heard that it would become official in three days when the Council would be informed)- and the gift of a tasteful grey and silver yukata all pointed to the fact that the Uzumaki Clan wanted an alliance.

Well, yeah, obviously he'd agree. This was Kushina-san's clan, and the clan that Minato-sensei had married into. Not to mention that Naruto was probably the closest thing he had left to family right now.

It would have carried greater political cachet had Naomi invited him over for the first dinner after she had gained official recognition for her position, but Kakashi didn't particularly care about that. Besides, the fact that they had invited him over now gave a telling message to anyone capable of discerning it. The Uzumaki/Senju Clan did not consider him to be a powerful or valued ally; they considered him to be family.

Kakashi briefly allowed himself to consider the option that Naomi had meant for no political implication within her actions. No, he really couldn't make himself believe that. She reminded him far too much of Kushina Uzumaki, a born and bred heiress, whose goofy exterior with her friends didn't detract from the honed calculations of a ruthless political strategist. All clan heirs and heiresses were given political instruction from a young age, but the crafty tricker of an Uzumaki was genuinely talented at what she had to do (unlike her fellow heiress and friend, Mikoto Uchiha, who simply went on to become a trophy wife for her husband). After all, how else had Minato-sensei, a nameless, clanless orphan become Hokage, no matter how talented he might have been?

Some of the more jaded councilmen might have thought that Minato-sensei married Kushina-san only for her political capital, but Kakashi (and Kushina-san) knew better. His sensei was kind, naive, and wore his heart on a sleeve, and thus, made a terrible politician.

Tonight was not the time for him to indulge in the ghosts of his past though, no matter how fond he was of this indulgence. Kakashi was determined to be on his best behavior, since his actions tonight would probably answer the question on whether or not he would be allowed to keep his family status with the Uzumaki Clan. In order to gain his favored response, Kakashi was particularly careful in how he dressed for the dinner.

It would have been rather embarrassing for him to show up to dinner while wearing his newly gifted clothing, so he took out the sole, thankfully semiformal, yukata he owned in dark navy blue and pale yellow and put it on. He also made sure to purchase a gift beforehand of a medium-sized bottle of high quality sake and a bouquet of orange tiger lilies and gardenias, both rare Western flowers. His gift and appearance taken care of, Kakashi also made sure to leave half an hour early as he made his way to the Senju Compound.

This was one dinner where he couldn't afford to be late.

His internal anxiety didn't stop him from marveling at the Senju Compound doors though. Kakashi had never been inside of the Senju Compound, since it had been closed at the death of Mito Senju when Kushina-san was only seven. She had elected to move to a small apartment in the village rather than stay in the large compound by herself. He could relate to that. Kakashi had point blank refused to live inside of his old clan compound after his father died.

The Senju Compound only had three buildings: a family home, a greenhouse, and a dojo. The majority of the land was taken up by a small forest of large trees that had been personally grown by the Shodaime. The chakra it emitted reminded Kakashi of the trees in the Forest of Death: powerful, imposing, and wild. The house was a two-story sprawling home with a sloping, tiled roof and large silk screen doors. The walls were made of light birch wood, and he could see the multitude of delicate seals carefully etched onto the wood and lightly stained with blood. It was barely noticeable, and if Kakashi didn't have the Sharingan, than he doubted that he would be able to see it.

Kakashi fidgeted a little bit, before he brought up his courage, raised a hand, and knocked on the door. It was opened immediately by Naomi Uzumaki.

"Hello Kakashi-san," she said cheerfully, as she gestured for him to come in, "I'm glad that you were able to make it."

Kakashi nodded mutely, and held out his offering- ah, gift, "This is for you two."

"You shouldn't have," Naomi replied automatically, accepting the gift, "The flowers are beautiful. I'll have them put in some water." Kakashi was internally very impressed as a Kage Bunshin popped up next to her without a single hand seal and took the gifts from her hand.

"We'll be having dinner in the small dining room," Naomi continued, employing the typical Uzumaki decorum and grace by grabbing his hand and handily dragging him across the hall, "Now, where's Naruto?"

"Naruto!" Naomi called out, letting Kakashi go so he could step back and observe home, "Naruto, where are you?" The woman started looking through the house, with Kakashi following behind at a more sedate and absorbing the details. It was a simple, tasteful, and traditional home, with the majority of decorations being weapons hung from the wall. So far, Kakashi could identify the Nidaime's katana, a pair of training bokken from the warring clans period, and Mito Uzumaki's famous seal inscribed sai.

"Naomi?" a second, younger voice replied to the calls. The holder's voice sounded distant and muffled, "I'm in the house. I kinda got lost again."

Kakashi couldn't help but question, "In his own house?"

Rather than become offended, she grinned over at him, "It's a pretty large house, and my great-grandmother had a great fondness for complex, winding pathways with lots of hidden rooms or trick staircases that lead to nowhere. It reminded her of Uzushiogakure I think."

"Winding pathways don't seem to be very good for public infrastructure," Kakashi said, mildly, "It seems like they went out of their way to make it more difficult than it needs to be."

A smirk, "They did. Uzushiogakure was a ninja family first and foremost. Simply navigating such in a village full of pranksters was a lesson on a day to day basis. It was also another factor in our long survival against Iwa, Kiri, and Kumo."

She set off a walk that seemed totally random for Kakashi, as one hallway led to a roomful of mirrors, that could be ducked under into a secret passage lined against the inside of the wall of the house. He contemplated using the Sharingan for a minute before Naomi cut off that idea.

"It'll be in your best interest not to use that dojutsu," she added, looking over her shoulder with an impish smile, "You are in a Senju home, powered by the seals of the Uzumaki. Trust me, the Sharingan is the last tool that you would want to use here."

"How are you tracking him, then?" Kakashi asked curiously.

"His chakra is like a beacon for me," Naomi said, "The seals would prevent anyone of Uzumaki or Senju blood or chakra from being detected in its' walls except for another person of either blood. Hold still, this is a little tricky."

He paused, and watched, intrigued, as Naomi walked up to a dead end and started tree-walking up the walls. By the time she reached the ceiling, Kakashi felt an inexplicable urge to shut his eyes. He resisted and was able to see the young woman pass through the ceiling with the ease of a ghost. A second later, a small click was heard, and the wall in front of him slid away. Naomi stood on the other side of the dusty room next to a short blond boy.

"Eh, hey," Naruto said, sheepishly, waving at Kakashi. The jounin looked into the room they had entered. It was in a vaguely hexagonal shape with thin light pine walls edged with a wood of dark oak. Pillows were displayed haphazardly around a room that had clearly been neglected from lack of use for years. The walls were painted with beautiful nature scenes: a blooming Sakura tree, the dunes of Suna in the sunset, a waterfall that was prominent in Taki, and the Hokage Mountain without any of the faces of the Hokages on them. A single kanji was inked into the walls in a series of connected chains- heiwa (peace).

"Welcome to the Shodaime's personal meditation room," Naomi said offhandedly, nearly giving Kakashi a heart attack. This was practically a village monument!

"Don't let the name fool you. This is where he came to sulk when he did something stupid and Mito kicked him out of their bedroom," Naomi added, much to Kakashi's surprise. "As for you, young man, you know that you're not supposed to go exploring before a guest arrives. You got your yukata dirty."

Indeed, Naruto's light blue crane yukata was mired at least partially in dust and grime. The boy did not seem to be very saddened by the loss as he solemnly nodded to his older cousin's light scolding and then rushed into his room to change into something more comfortable. The other Uzumaki looked at the cheerful boy with a light envy.

"So unfair," she pouted, "I don't like formal wear either, but I have to wear it, and Naruto doesn't."

He blinked. "You are definitely an Uzumaki," he deadpanned.

She brightened, "I am, amn't I?"

"That wasn't a compliment," he tried to tell her. She clearly disregarded that comment, and easily made her way through the winding passages and back into their living room. Seeing as Naomi wasn't going to take his comment seriously, Kakashi merely smiled contentedly and followed behind her. The young woman wore her green and white lily-patterned kimono with the grace of one who was used to if not entirely comfortable with formal clothing. Once they were both seated in a small, rectangular table, Kakashi leaned back and returned to blatantly studying his host.

"ANBU?" he asked, casually.

"Hai," she replied. The startlingly intense shade of her sea-green eyes unnerved him a little. Sure, he knew that the hue was a trademark Uchiha feature, but where had she gotten the hair? Minato-sensei couldn't have been her father; he would have been ten years old.

"I'm surprised that I've never met you before," the silver-haired jounin made his signature eye-smile, "I was in ANBU for six years after all."

"Most of my missions involved long-term infiltration," she explained, "This is the first time I've been in the village since I was seventeen."

"Seventeen?" he repeated, "But you barely look sixteen! Just how old are you?" At her raised eyebrow, Kakashi quickly backpedaled, "If you don't mind telling me that is."

"I'm twenty-five," she answered, gleefully taking in his stunned expression, "It's the Uzumaki vitality. Many of us end up looking a lot younger than we actually are."

"It's a bit of relief that you're older than you appear to be," Kakashi said, "You'll be able to take better care of Naruto."

"You seem to be concerned with his well-being," Naomi noted, "Is there any reason for your vested interest in him? Keep in mind that I know about his parentage."

Kakashi's eyes widened, "He's my sensei's only child."

She nodded. "Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki were both very fond of you. They considered you to be like a son to them. The Sandaime allowed me to give Naruto a letter written by his mother, since he doesn't know about his father's identity yet. It expressly mentioned you, and I believe that a letter was addressed to you as well. It was blood sealed but I donated a few droplets beforehand, so you can request your letter from the Sandaime. I'm confident that you'll get it."

Kakashi nodded stiffly, feeling his throat close somewhat from what she had offered him. Had he been a little less emotionally involved, he might have noticed the concern tinted with affection in her eyes.

"Thank you," he looked down, "I- Will it be too much trouble if I- Can I see Naruto again? I want to be a part of his life."

"I was planning to schedule lessons for him for the rest of his final year," Naomi said, quietly, "If you would like to drop by every now and then- perhaps show him a few tricks…?"

"I don't see any trouble with that," Kakashi replied, slumping in relief.

By the time Naruto arrived to the table, freshly clad in a white T-shirt and dark blue pants, Naomi and Kakashi had fallen into a comfortable discussion about elemental affinities. Naruto was integrated into the conversation while one of Naruto's Kage Bunshin arrived to the table with the first dish of the meal: a bowl of miso soup with a side dish of steamed mussels and sauce.

Had Kakashi been even a little more perceptive, he would have been surprised by how quickly he had gotten comfortable with these two. But the Uzumaki Clan had always held a special spot for the notoriously antisocial jounin, and so he chose to subconsciously overlook Naomi's overt familiarity with him or the addition of his favorite meals to the menu. He simply attributed them to that unique knack Uzumaki had for reading people and gaining their friendships. As Naomi and Naruto jokingly went to war over the final dumpling, Kakashi smiled contentedly.

He was home.

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In a large city somewhere near the capital of the Tea Country daimyo, a blond woman with an excessively large bust was playing in a gambling ring. She held a few red and blue chips in her hand, and with a concentration usually reserved for dangerous surgery, placed one inside of the machine. A slender young woman with short, black hair and a pet pig hovered anxiously beside her.

"Dammit!" Tsunade said loudly, once three images of different types appeared in the black-lined boxes, "Nothing!"

"Perhaps we should stop gambling for the day," the other woman suggested, eyeing the last two chips in her mentor's hand, "We could stop somewhere for dinner."

"Let me just try these two first," Tsunade said, inserting in another coin. Once again, her results were less than satisfactory.

"There's something wrong with this!" Tsunade announced, scowling as she half-heartedly inserted her final coin, "It's rigged against-"

Her mouth snapped shut when three images of a bright red cherry all lined up in one neat row. The other gamblers all looked over at her as the machine beeped loudly, and a veritable mountain of shiny chips spluttered out.

Shizune was ecstatic. "A full run! This is wonderful; we can make a huge dent in our debts, sensei. Do you want me to go exchange them for ryo?"

"Do it quickly!" Tsunade barked, getting up and frantically pushing all of her chips into a pile, "This is a horrible omen, Shizune. I only start winning when something terrible is about to happen!"

The two kunoichi proceeded to hastily collect their chips, exchange them for ryo from the stunned manager, and rush out the door. Had they stayed for an hour longer or listened to their fellow gamblers, they would have heard the furtive whispers floating in the air.

"Have you heard the news?"

"Yes, they're claiming that Konoha will gain a new Senju-"

"...rebirth of the Clan, do you think?..."

"Wasn't that Tsunade Senju who just ran out the door?"

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_**This is paradoxically one of my most time-intensive and worst chapters when it comes to this story. I had struggled for writer's block for a week, before I just decided to set my alarm to six o' clock and spend three or so hours struggling to find an acceptable ending. Hopefully, the next chapter will be much better.**_


	10. Chapter 10

Uzumaki Naruto had a very pleasant wake-up in the morning by way of breakfast scents. It was his nose that he relied on to lead him to the kitchen, where his older cousin was sitting comfortably in a chair, a cup of tea in hand. As had become customary, a shadow clone was placing breakfast on the table.

"Good morning, Naruto," Naomi welcomed, looking up from her scroll to give him a smile, "Are you ready for your first lesson?"

"Are we going to have it right now?" Naruto asked, looking at his breakfast longingly.

"We're going to have class along with breakfast," Naomi replied, placing her scroll away, "I'd like to teach you a little more about the Uzumaki Clan."

"Okay," the boy agreed, happy to be learning more about his Clan. Naruto had been desperate for any scraps of information about his family, and before Naomi had come along, nobody had been willing to teach him anything. Though he knew a little about the Uzumaki Clan already, that only strengthened his desire to learn about his heritage.

"First, I want you to give me a rundown on what you already know about the Clan," Naomi ordered, "That will give me a basis for what I should tell you."

"Well, I know that our Clan is famous for its' fuuinjutsu, life span, and healing," Naruto recalled, "We also have a lot of chakra, which means that we can't do the regular Bunshin. We were cousins with the Senju and gave them financial support early-on to found Konoha. Also, if I ever want to have kids, than my wife needs to have large chakra reserves. And I know how to do the Divine Chakra Cloak. But, that's it."

"A respectable beginning," she allowed, "I'm going to tell you a little bit of our Clan's illustrious history. Now, before the ninja world existed, there was an extremely powerful man known as the Sage of Six Paths. He had a very powerful dojutsu known as the Rinnegan; entirely purple eyes, even in the sclera, and with concentric black ripples originating from the center of the pupil. The Rinnegan gave the man incredible powers, but the only one you need to be concerned with is his mastery of Yin-Yang Release. The Sage could manipulate physical and spiritual energy, which would one day spawn the fields of genjutsu, ninjutsu, and Iiijutsu. He the Father of the modern ninja."

Naruto listened, entranced, as her tone took on a more melodic quality. Not only had this never been covered in the Academy, but Naomi's story-style narrative was a lot more engaging than any of his sensei's dry lectures.

"At that time, the world was being plagued by a terrible demonic force that was known as the Juubi for its' ten tails. The Juubi caused death and destruction wherever it went. None of the people were able to injure or even waylay it. When the death toll had reached tens of thousands of people, the Sage decided to visit this demon and battle it. Now the Juubi was made of energy, and energy could not be killed, so the Sage did the next best thing. He sealed the demon away, inside of his own body, and became the world's first jinchuuriki."

"A jinchuuriki is a human sacrifice and a living cage. That the Sage was willing to seal the demon into his own body was a testament to his bravery and to the Juubi's power. If anyone else had held it, I am certain that it would have escaped. The Sage married a woman later on, and she gave him two sons. The older son was born with a weaker form of the Rinnegan- the Sharingan. He would be the ancestor of the Uchiha Clan."

She paused, as if considering her words, before Naruto broke from the suspense.

"And the younger son?" he urged, "What happened to him?"

"The younger son had a recessive gene for the Rinnegan, so he never activated his father's eyes," Naomi answered, "He did share his father's values though, and a strong will. When it came time for the Sage to choose an heir, he chose the second son. Enraged and envious, the older son attacked the younger one, and tried to kill him. Despairing of the rift that appeared between his only sons and knowing that neither would be capable of imprisoning the Juubi alone, the Sage used his yin-yang mastery to rip out the Juubi on his death bed and split it apart into the nine Bijuu that roam our world today: Ichibi, Nibi, Sanbi, Yonbi, Gobi, Rokubi, Nanabi, Hachibi, and Kyuubi. He sealed the rest of the energy of the Juubi into a large stone with the Rinnegan technique Chibaku Tensei, and then sent the rock up into the sky as the moon."

"Bitter over his inheritance, the older brother, who valued power, left his father's home, swearing that one day his descendants would regain what was rightfully his by birth. The younger son also left the home of his father, but his promise was to make the Sage's dream of a peaceful world come true. He gave birth to two children: a son who would go on to found the Senju Clan and a daughter who would become the first Uzumaki. Since then, each child took on a part of his father's mission. The Uzumaki swore to preserve the knowledge and beliefs of the Sage throughout time, and the Senju swore to spread his beliefs so that his dream could take root in the world. One clan to preserve the past and the second to sow the seeds of the future… and, of course, there's the Senju and Uchiha rivalry."

"So I'm related to the Sage of the Six Paths?" Naruto looked awed, and possibly a little afraid, "Does that mean that I have do anything special for the Clan?"

"As an Uzumaki, you should remember this knowledge and pass it on to your own kin," Naomi answered, hesitating, "You're going to be the older brother to a Senju, and one day, you may be helping him spread the Sage's beliefs of peace. This isn't some type of divine mission though; it;s just something that our clan has been doing for years. In fact, most people will never even know this story. Our clan sealed the knowledge for generations, which is why I can tell you now."

"It's a nice dream," Naruto said slowly, his voice odd, "A nice dream… for peace. Maybe- I'd like to make it come true."

"It's a worthy dream to go after," Naomi said, smiling wistfully, "It was the dream of one of my most precious people- my godfather dedicated his life to finding a path for peace."

"Are we the only relatives of the Sage left?" Naruto asked suddenly.

"From the Uchiha Clan, there's Sasuke and Itachi," Naomi listed off, "From the Senju, Tsunade and I suppose my unborn baby falls under that Clan as well. And you and I are the only Uzumaki."

"There's Nagato too," Naomi thought, "But that's hardly something I could share with Naruto."

"Only five living descendants, and one unborn one?" Naruto said, a little disappointed, "I guess a lot of ended up killing each other… if I bring peace than people wouldn't be killed, right? Our family could grow up safe."

A small trickle of alarm seeped through Naomi's body. "Naruto," she said delicately, "I know that you like the idea of peace- like many of our relatives- but please do not dedicate your life to such an impossible goal. Our family is as small as it is because of that goal. The Uzumaki and Uchiha were massacred in the name of peace. It's a cursed word Naruto; one that had brought no measure of grief to our Clan."

"But why?" Naruto demanded, "Why would people be killed in the name of peace?"

"Because to save the majority, you sometimes have to kill the minority, and unfortunately, our family was the one that was either killed or did the killing," Naomi smiled sadly, "The sacrifice of a great man is his precious people; for the world, he sacrifices those he loves, even if they do not agree with that peace. Did you ever wonder why Tsunade left the village?"

"No," he replied, anxiously, "Why?"

"Her brother, Nawaki, was killed in war," Naomi's eyes darkened, "She tried to adopt you after the Kyuubi attack you know, but you looked so much like Nawaki, even as a baby. Unlike Tsunade, her brother had taken after his Uzumaki heritage. She couldn't cope with losing her distant cousin, Kushina, and seeing a baby that was just like her dead brother, and left the village, though she did petition to take you along with her. After Nawaki died, she lost her lover, Dan Koto, despite trying to heal him of his injuries in the Second Shinobi War. Because of that, she develope haemophobia, which is an acute fear of blood, and very debilitating for a medic of her stature."

"Someone tried to adopt me?" Naruto said, stunned, with a tremulous smile, "But why wouldn't they let her take me?"

"The same reason I was worried about not being able to adopt you," Naomi replied, causing him to scowl, "Still, I'm hoping that we can find her and talk some sense into her. Tsunade is a wonderful person you know; she's a very skilled medic, and extremely protective over the people she loves. Right now, she thinks that she had no family left, but I want us to prove her wrong. Even if she's the only Senju alive now, her grandmother was an Uzumaki, and we're still here."

"You sound like you know her?" Naruto questioned.

His cousin smiled in that oddly mysterious way she sometimes did, "I do, but I doubt she'll remember me. We met under some very extenuating circumstances."

"Do you think she would like me?" Naruto worried.

"I'm confident that you'll be able to charm her in no time," Naomi said, with an affectionate smile, "She was very fond of both Kushina and Nawaki, and you have both of their characteristics in spades."

"I want her to like me," the boy confided her, "I'm glad I have you- and I'll get to be a big brother soon!- but I still want to expand my family."

He was so embarrassed about admitting his desire, that Naruto didn't recognize that he had unconsciously and vocally regard himself as a soon-to-be older brother. Naomi did notice though, and felt an unexpected wave of pleasure at the news. It honestly scared her, how close she was becoming to her counterpart. The bonds that she had started to form with Naruto now, was starting to make her forget why she came to this universe in the first place.

How can you run away when you keep ending up at the very place you were trying to avoid?

"I think we covered enough family history for today," Naomi interrupted their thoughts, placing her empty teacup back on the table and calling in a Kage Bunshin to clean up their breakfast, "What do you want to do?"

"Eh? Aren't we going to do some more studying?" Naruto questioned, surprised by the speed of this lesson.

"No, I think I'll test your physical capabilities tomorrow," Naomi explained, "Today's the first day of classes, so it's okay if we take it a little lightly. You know, the house is pretty much cleaned- even the hidden rooms are almost done- but we haven't checked out the greenhouse yet. Do you want do some gardening?"

"Oh, cool! I love gardening. I have a few plants back at my apartment…" Naruto trailed off, "Oh no! I forgot to water Usagi-kun and Mr. Ukki today."

"You name your plants?" Naomi asked, "Actually, no, I'm not surprised. Don't worry about them though; I had a few Kage Bunshin raid your apartment for anything useful and brought it over here to the old armoury. You can keep whatever you like, and I'll have the rest disposed of later."

"Naomi-chan, why don't we have any cool weapons or jutsu scrolls or anything?" Naruto asked, "Isn't the Senju Clan supposed to be really old and famous?"

"Most of our jutsu scrolls were taken away for Konoha's safety after Kushina died and Tsunade left the village," Naomi explained, "You'll probably get your Uzumaki heritage when you reach a Chuunin, but I doubt you'll have access to anything until then. As for the Senju scrolls, most of them will probably be returned to the Clan after a blood-born Senju becomes a Chuunin of the village. That hardly matters though; I already know most of the Senju and Uzumaki techniques, so I can refill our library after a few weeks."

The two stood up and started walking over to the armoury to get Naruto's precious plants.

"Does that mean I get to learn some super-powerful jutsu?" Naruto asked, turning bright blue puppy eyes over to the young woman. She was not impressed.

"Nope," was the prompt response, which made Naruto pout, "Sorry, chibi-mine, but you're not responsible enough."

"Don't call me a chibi," Naruto grumbled, "And I'm responsible enough to handle those moves, dattebayo!"

"Hmm, powerful B-ranked or A-ranked large scale destructive ninjutsu in the hands of a child prankster," Naomi thoughtfully considered it over, making Naruto lookup at her eagerly, "...Not a chance." Naruto wilted.

"That's not fair," Naruto sulked, "When did you learn your first A-rank or B-rank jutsu?" Naomi sweatdropped.

"Good point," she admitted, "...I'll teach you my signature technique, but nothing else! At least not until you become a genin."

"Yes!" he punched the air with his fist, "Victory!" Naomi watched in amusement as her adopted son spent a minute doing an odd victory dance that consisted of jumping up and down, and waving his hands around like a windmill.

"What jutsu will I be learning?" Naruto asked eagerly, as they entered the armoury, "Is it a huge fire ball?"

"Don't insult me, Naruto," Naomi snorted, "As if I'd take a trademarked Uchiha jutsu as my signature move. Fireballs are so overrated. No, what I have is a far more versatile technique. Kage Bunshin!"

"... Okay, so I'll admit that solid clones are pretty cool and not having to clean my room would be awesome, but how else can I use that jutsu?" Naruto admitted, after a minute. He bent down to retrieve his precious Usagi-kun and Mr. Ukki, and thus missed Naomi's look of horror.

"Naruto, Kage Bunshin is the single greatest jutsu ever invented!" Naomi argued, "Not only is it a solid clone- which is like manna for combination attacks- but it also has awesome memory capabilities. If you make a Kage Bunshin, have it read a book, and then make it dispel, than you can remember everything that the Kage Bunshin read. Can you imagine the training implications?"

Naruto considered it. "You mean I can learn ten or twenty times as much in the same amount of time?" he asked, making Naomi nod, "That means… I'll be the best ninja in no time! No one else can learn as fast as me! Eh, Naomi, why doesn't anyone else learn like this too?"

"Only an Uzumaki can use this technique to its' full capabilities, Naruto-kun," Naomi said, smugly, "Most people don't have the chakra to pull off more than two or three, and they end up exhausted after that- which means that they don't get any gains from training that way. Can you think of another reason why Kage Bunshin would be awesome?"

Naruto didn't have to think for this one. "A ready-made army!" he shouted gleefully.

"And collaboration ninjutsu," Naomi added, "Trust me, this jutsu will be your absolute best friend. Most of the time we'll spend training will consist of mastering the Kage Bunshin jutsu. In a few months, you'll be able to use this jutsu without hand seals, collaborate attacks without thinking, and become the general of your own small army."

The blond boy became starry-eyed as he contemplated the sheer awesomeness of the power he would soon have at his fingertips. There could be no denying the truth. Naomi-chan was the greatest relative in the whole world.

He told her so, and Naomi merely sent him an appreciative smile, before heading over to the greenhouse with an armful of Naruto's plants. The greenhouse was slightly smaller than the house, which made it the size of a decently large mansion at least. It wasn't really a greenhouse in the sense that it had any plants growing inside; all of the time that had passed had made the green flora wither and die. Unlike the weeds outside, these plants were inside an enclosed structure with a complex watering system made of beautiful wooden pipes that crisscrossed the glass ceiling and ran across the walls. Since the internal water system had been shut for years, all of the plants had died from lack of water.

There were still large circular plots though, starting from the center of the greenhouse and spiraling outward like whirlpool. Hooks were hung in clumps in a triple-laden diamond pattern, so each few yards would have a few hanging plants tethered to the walls. The greenhouse consisted of two open floors, with the top floor being just a few yards of railing encircling the floor for the plants that required more sunlight. A shallow pool was placed across the greenhouse room, with flat, moss-laden stones that formed a pathway into another side room that existed for plants that existed best in dark, damp places. Finally, a closed adjacent room was placed northwest to the entrance, for those plants that held poisonous spores.

Naruto's mere armful of pots- only five civilian type plants- were hardly enough to fill the greenhouse, but it still gave him a bit of happiness to hang Usagi-kun from one of the hooks and place the other four on one of the wooden tables.

"Well, we definitely have our work cut out for us, right Naruto-kun?" Naomi commented, looking over the greenhouse with fond and determined eyes, "Let's make the plans for the greenhouse now; I can get some of the seedlings tomorrow. Our family is going to have the best greenhouse in Konoha!"

"Yeah," Naruto murmured, feeling his throat constrict at the words. He blinked rapidly to get rid of the rising tears and smiled, "We have a lot to do then."

"I think we're up for it," Naomi replied, kindly allowing him to gather his emotions as she surveyed the arrangement, "Okay, so I think we should have a ready access of medical herbs in our garden, so maybe we could plant some wild ginger roots and cnidium roots there- and that spot will be perfect for a small white mulberry tree- I think its' bark is supposed to have some healing properties. Hey, remind me to buy a book about medicinal herbs later, okay? I'm only good with the poisonous plants, unfortunately."

Naruto's grinned widened, "I'll do that! Don't forget gambier extract, or kudzu roots, or wild mint…"

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Jiraiya of the Sennin, Sage of Mount Myoboku, was more than a little disturbed by the series of rumors that had reached his ear. As a spymaster of great renown (to those who were aware of his non-pornographic work anyway), Jiraiya had heard of many outlandish tales over the years. This one really took the cake though. A soon-to-be born Senju heir- as if Tsunade could actually bear a child- in Konoha? A newfound Uzumaki… who the hell was that supposed to be? Resurrection of a dying clan- Senju member of ANBU- demon child getting adopted, and being made the heir to the Uzumaki- where were people getting this stuff?

He had never heard of another Senju or Uzumaki in the ranks, and considering his spy network, security level, and personal interests in the matter, you would think that Jiraiya, the Gama Sennin would be the first to know. That's it, Jiraiya had no choice but to go to Konoha and confront his sensei about this. He was Jiraiya! He was supposed to know about these things!

And if they happened to involve his precious orphaned godson in any harmful way whatsoever, then there would be hell to pay.

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End file.
